Four days after Diamondbacks pitcher Randall Delgado beamed Pirates outfielder Andrew McCutchen in the back with a 95-mph fastball, D-Backs Chief Baseball Officer Tony La Russa responded to the hoopla surrounding the incident.
Last Friday night, Pirates reliever Ernesto Frieri accidentally hit Diamondbacks first baseman Paul Goldschmidt in the left hand with a fastball during the ninth inning of the Pirates' eventual 9-4 victory. Unfortunately, X-rays revealed Goldschmidt's hand was fractured and he will now miss the remainder of the season. Despite the accidental nature of the incident, the D-Backs decided to retaliate the following night.
In the top of the ninth inning on Saturday, the Pirates led the Diamondbacks 5-1 and the reigning NL MVP Andrew McCutchen stepped into the batters box with the bases loaded. After reliever Randall Delgado delivered a fastball up and in and a slider low and away, the count was 2-0. On the very next pitch, Delgado hit McCutchen square in the back with a 95-mph fastball and was immediately ejected from the game. On Sunday, McCutchen injured a rib on his left side after hitting a sacrifice fly in the eighth inning and reported 'being tight' as a result of getting hit in the back the previous night.
Many were outraged by manager Kirk Gibson and the Diamondbacks for the way they retaliated, especially to an accident. After Frieri hit Goldschmidt, he apologized and said it was completely unintentional, which makes sense because there is no bad blood between either team. But Tony La Russa had some words for those who criticized Arizona.
"I don't see where the Diamondbacks should catch all this (expletive) they're catching," said La Russa in this Arizona Republic article. "The crux of his argument lies in what he believes to be the Pirates' pitching philosophy. They don't just pitch inside. They pitch up and in. And by choosing to do so, they have to live with the consequences."
La Russa is famous for ordering his pitchers to retaliate in such situations during his time as manager of the St. Louis Cardinals, where he won two World Series championships. He believes that many are overlooking the fact that their All-Star first baseman suffered a broken hand and will miss the remainder of the year while McCutchen was hit in the back and cannot prove the incident was related to the injury he suffered the day after.
People are going to think what they want to think, and the jury believes Kirk Gibson's largely unprovoked revenge was uncalled for, especially because the Pirates had much more to lose if McCutchen were to miss significant time compared to the Diamondbacks losing Goldschmidt for an extended period. You can read more about the D-Backs/Pirates incident in this ESPN article.
