Reds Coach Defends Player After High Pitch Angers Garza

Johnny Cueto woke up the Chicago Cubs.

The Cincinnati right-hander had a four-run lead when threw a pitch over the head of David DeJesus with one out in the sixth inning Sunday, drawing a warning from plate umpire Bob Davidson.

Chicago rebounded as Alfonso Soriano hit a tying two-run homer in the eighth inning and Welington Castillo had a go-ahead double in the 10th. The 5-4 victory stopped a season-high, six-game losing streak.

"That just goes to show, don't wake a sleeping dog," Cubs starter Matt Garza said. "That's immature on his part. ... 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. 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."

Cubs manager Dale Sveum thought the high pitch to Cueto was a response to DeJesus taking his time to get in the batter's box.

"He wasn't trying to hit him," Sveum said. "I think it woke us up. At least it woke up the bench."

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.

Baker said Monday that the Cincinnati ace "couldn't have hit Wilt Chamberlain with that pitch." Both dugouts were warned after the play.

Baker says: "I just wish they'd put them in a room and let them box and it would be over with — like hockey."

Cueto was not at his cubicle in the Reds clubhouse before their game Monday against Cleveland.

Baker questions whether Garza would have been as upset had he pitched better than his four-inning, four-run outing.

Cincinnati, which had won five straight and 16 of 20, plays the Cubs next in a four-game series at Wrigley Field starting June 10.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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