MILWAUKEE _ The final word didn't come in the form of a home run or a throw across his body.
With the continuous and deafening boos making Miller Park sound like a hive of angry bees Saturday night, Manny Machado responded not with brute force but with graceful technique.
The villain of this postseason worked a full count against Milwaukee Brewers starter Jhoulys Chacin in the second inning, then did the unexpected.
He bunted.
The infield single set up a two-run home run by Cody Bellinger that provided the Dodgers with a one-run advantage. They went on to win 5-1 to win the National League Championship Series, four games to three. Machado was heading to the World Series.
Asked if he felt he won the back-and-forth over with the Miller Park faithful that unfolded over the last couple of days, Machado smiled and responded with a question of his own.
"What do you think?" he asked.
The statement was the single. The punctuation mark was the gesture Machado made after he ran through first base: He grabbed his crotch.
A champagne-soaked Machado said he didn't recall doing that.
The sequence encapsulated Machado's postseason experience. His arrogance and juvenile antics have incited considerable scorn. His baseball instincts and talent have inspired begrudging respect.
And if Los Angeles remains undecided about how it feels about Machado, well, the city might not have a choice.
Machado was one of the primary reasons the Dodgers won the game Saturday night, the seventh of the National League Championship Series. And he should have a similar role in the World Series if the Dodgers win that. He's already a postseason hero. With another series victory, he could become a postseason legend.
Machado was two for four in Game 7. He was eight for 27 with five runs in the series.
He did what the Dodgers envisioned he would do when they acquired him in a mid-July trade with the Baltimore Orioles, serving as the offensive catalyst of a team that will play on the sport's most important stage.
What was unexpected was how he did it.
Machado could have made this experience considerably easier on himself. His introductory news conference here three months earlier was evidence of that.
This was the stadium at which Machado joined the Dodgers after his trade. Before his first game, he was taken into a conference room that resembled a small college lecture hall.
Machado didn't say much that day, but he didn't have to. He had a nice smile. He was well-spoken. When he delivered his first hit for the team, he blew a bubble as he ran out of the batter's box.
A kid playing a kid's game, likable enough.
Or so it seemed.
While the 26-year-old Machado was approaching free agency and the prospect of a nine-figure contract, he didn't make a concerted effort to sell himself the way Manny Ramirez did a decade earlier.
He was purposefully bland. His play on the field was uneven.
Athletes like this are ignored in Los Angeles and he was.
That changed because of the postseason spotlight.
He didn't run out a ground ball in a Game 2 victory. Shortly after that, he said in an interview with FS1 that he is "not the type of player that's going to be 'Johnny Hustle.'"
Machado clearly exerts significant effort at times. Perhaps what he meant to say was that he is selective about when and how he goes 100 percent. But what he said came across as disparaging of the Johnny Hustles around the league. Because he was so gifted, he seemed to be saying, he didn't have to play as the more modestly talented grinders.
He further damaged his reputation in Game 4 of this series. As he ran out a ground ball, he dragged his foot as he ran through first base, clipping the ankle of Brewers first baseman Jesus Aguilar.
Hence, the boos at Miller Park.
The conflict appeared to distract him when he went hitless in a Game 6 loss. He thrived off it Saturday.
He said he was inspired to bunt because Chacin quick-pitched him.
"They're going to quick pitch, I'm going to be a little quicker," he said.
The bunt single might have changed the game, but the play didn't alter Machado's relationship with the fans in Milwaukee. As Machado was on first base, the fans continued chanting at him.
"You-still-suck!" they screamed in unison. "You-still-suck!"
Bellinger's home run was followed by a double by Puig. When Puig reached second base, he raised his arms toward the stadium's retractable roof and made a chopping gesture toward his groin. From the bench, Machado looked out toward Puig and made the same gesture.
"That's Puig's thing," Machado said.
As was the case the previous day, he didn't want to talk too much about the fans.
He pointed to the bottle of sparkling wine he was holding.
"I play for this," he said.
