It was a rough weekend series between the Arizona Diamondbacks and Pittsburgh Pirates.
The D-backs lost All-Star first baseman Paul Goldschmidt for the season when he was hit by an Ernesto Frieri pitch in the ninth inning of Friday night’s game.
It was retaliation time on Saturday, as Pirates All-Star Andrew McCutchen took a pitch to the back during the ninth inning. The center fielder and reigning National League MVP didn’t appear to be injured on the play, but he was heated about the way in which the Diamondbacks took care of business.
“We understand that retaliation is going to happen in this game. But you know, there’s a right way to do it,” McCutchen said, via ESPN.com. “If you’re going to hit me, hit me. He hit me square in the spine. If I get hurt, what happens then?”
That apparently wasn’t a rhetorical question. In the series finale on Sunday, McCutchen exited the game in the eighth inning after experiencing some discomfort following a swing. The All-Star clutched his left side as he trotted to first base on his game-tying sacrifice fly, but as he veered toward the dugout, he never took his hand off his side and his teammates had to assist him into the dugout, then the clubhouse.
After the game, McCutchen was asked if there was a chance that his being drilled in the back could have something to do with his early exit.
“I hope not, but it did hit me right in the spine,” McCutchen said, via MLB.com’s Tom Singer. “So it was tight, stiff a little bit. And I had to get a little bit of (pregame) treatment.
“But I went through my warmups fine, no issues, hitting and all that. It wasn’t a major issue besides being bruised. But the side has never been a problem ever in my life, so I’ve never had to deal with this, so who knows.”
McCutchen underwent X-rays that didn’t show anything, reports Bill Brink of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Â but he’ll undergo further evaluation Monday.
“We won’t know till tomorrow,” McCutchen said. “See how I feel, and go from there.”
