Okay, fill in the blank for "Expletive". Shit....Fuck.....Other?
Cubs pitcher calls Yasiel Puig 'stupid as (expletive)' following benches-clearing incident
Tom Schad
1 day ago
© Provided by USA Today Sports Media Group LLC
Yasiel Puig found himself in the middle of a benches-clearing incident Saturday.
And the situation left an opposing player believing that Puig is "stupid as (expletive)."
The genesis of the incident was a hit by pitch with two outs in the eighth inning of
Cincinnati's 6-0 loss to the Chicago Cubs. On a 3-0 count, Cubs reliever Pedro Strop pegged Puig in the left thigh with a 94-mph fastball. The Reds outfielder then slammed his helmet on the ground, dropped his bat, gestured toward Strop, shouted something and started toward the mound.
Both dugouts and bullpens emptied, but no punches were thrown — and there wasn't much pushing or shoving, either. Puig did have to be held back by teammates, however.
It wasn't immediately clear why Puig took offense to the incident. Presumably, he thought Strop hit him intentionally.
Strop, for his part, told reporters after the game that he believes Puig is "just stupid."
"I told him, 'Why are you talking? You have a chance to do whatever you need to do on the mound. Now you're just screaming,' " Strop said,
according to ESPN. "It's not a secret he's stupid. He's stupid as
(expletive). I have nothing against him, but he's stupid. There's no doubt about it."
When asked after the game if he thought Strop intentionally threw at Puig, Reds manager David Bell demurred.
"You'd have to ask them. Only they know," Bell
told reporters. "But the bottom line was he did get hit, on a 3-0 pitch. And I don't like when our guys get hit."
Puig
told reporters after the game that he didn't have any history with Strop. He said he was happy that no one was hurt, and that his primary focus was to simply win Sunday.
"I want to go out tomorrow, and my teammates want to go out tomorrow, and win the game, win the series," Puig said. "Because that's more important than to fight with another player from another team."
Contributing: John Fay, The Cincinnati EnquirerContact Tom Schad at tschad@usatoday.com or on Twitter @Tom_Schad.This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Cubs pitcher calls Yasiel Puig 'stupid as (expletive)' following benches-clearing incident