Cincinnati Reds manager Dusty Baker says he doesn't understand why Cubs pitcher Matt Garza was incensed by Johnny Cueto's pitch high over David DeJesus' head and suggested the two pitchers settle the dispute with their fists. Baker told ESPN Monday that the Cincinnati ace "couldn't have hit Wilt Chamberlain with that pitch."
Both dugouts received warnings after the play in the sixth inning Sunday of the Cubs' 5-4, 10-inning win. An angry Garza told ESPN he felt Cueto was "immature" after the game.
"If he wants to say something to me, he knows where my locker is. If he's got a problem, he can throw at me, and I'll do the same," Garza said Sunday. "Hopefully, he grows ... up. I hope he hears this. I really don't care. I don't know if there's anything between him and [DeJesus], but I'll stop it. I don't think you intentionally try to injure somebody. I hope the league looks at it. I don't want him suspended or anything. I hope his players talk to him and show him the way it is."
Baker said he hasn't talked to Cueto about the incident and recalled how previous spats between players were handled much differently in the past.
"Just put them in a room, let them box and let it be over with. I always said this, let it be like hockey, let them fight, someone hits the ground and it's over with. I'm serious about that," he told reporters.
Cueto was absent from his cubicle in the Reds clubhouse before their game Monday against Cleveland when his manager made the comments. Baker questions whether Garza would have been as upset had he pitched better than his four-inning, four-run performance on Sunday.
"Would he have been as upset if he got the win instead of potentially getting the loss. If you've got something to say, you go over and tell them," Baker told reporters. "Johnny ain't running. That guy can say what he wants to say, but he can say it to his face."
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