D-Backs and Pirates add new chapter to HBP feud
The Pittsburgh Pirates weren’t hiding the fact that right-hander Joe Musgrove intentionally plunked Diamondbacks outfielder Chris Owings on Monday night. Are we in store for yet another hitby-pitch feud between the two clubs?
With the Pirates ahead 5-0, Musgrove hit Owings to lead off the seventh inning. Diamondbacks right-hander Braden Shipley had hit Pirates infielder Josh Harrison with a pitch in the previous frame.
That same inning, third baseman Jake Lamb hit a game-tying, three-run home run and the Diamondbacks won 9-5, their fourth straight victory. Both Musgrove and Pirates manager Clint Hurdle suggested after the game that the hit-by-pitch was intentional.
“It’s nothing more than just protecting your teammates,” Musgrove, who hit three batters in the game, told Pittsburgh media after the game. “It’s baseball. That’s how the game is played.”
The incident is another on an expanding list of unrest between the clubs
since 2014, when then-Pirates reliever Ernesto Frieri broke the hand of Diamondbacks first baseman Paul Goldschmidt with a wayward pitch. Arizona responded by plunking outfielder Andrew McCutchen, who, at the time, was the Pirates’ best player.
The feud resurfaced in 2016 when Pirates reliever Arquimedes Caminero threw at the heads of Diamondbacks infielders Jean Segura and Nick Ahmed. In that same game, then-Arizona reliever Evan Marshall also hit Pirates infielder David Freese.
Tony La Russa, the Diamondbacks' chief baseball officer, went into the Pirates broadcast booth during a game between the teams that season to address what he called “inaccuracies” about the broadcaster’s comments regarding his philosophy on hit-by-pitch retaliation.
And just last season, Diamondbacks catcher Chris Iannetta was hit in the face by a pitch from Pirates reliever Johnny Barbatos.
Was Monday yet another chapter? “There was definitely some guys getting hit on purpose and I think there was a lot of guys getting hit not on purpose,” Ahmed said of the longstanding feud. “I know Segura and I got hit in the head in back-to-back innings in 2016. I know they’re taught to pitch inside and brush guys off the plate, but you need to be able to control the ball when you throw inside.”
Ahmed, who said that the Diamondbacks weren’t going to incite any further retaliation on Tuesday, added that he at least appreciated Musgrove hitting Owings below the letters so as not to inflict serious injury.
“Honesty is cool, I guess,” Ahmed said. “They’re not really hiding what they’re doing. You just hope that they’re not going to be stupid about it and hit guys up high. You don’t want guys to get hurt like Goldy and McCutchen a few years back.
“I guess their candidness is different. Most guys would do it and say that the ball slipped and that kind of thing. As a player, you know when you get hit on purpose and when a ball slips.”
Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said he is not in favor of intentionally throwing at batters and that he relayed such a message to his pitchers during spring training.
Lovullo, who was not in Arizona during the 2014 or 2016 seasons, said he is “minimally” aware of the history of retaliation between the clubs.
“Obviously (the Pirates) felt very strongly about protecting their guys and intentionally throwing at somebody, and that’s their decision,” Lovullo said. “I don’t necessarily believe in taking a baseball and throwing it at somebody. That’s my point of view, and it’s obviously not theirs. They made that very clear yesterday.”
After the Owings incident, Diamondbacks closer Brad Boxberger led off the ninth inning by hitting Pirates pinch-hitter Sean Rodriguez with the first pitch. Lovullo said Boxberger told him it was unintentional.
“In asking him and asking the rest of the guys, they give me honest answers,” Lovullo said of his relationship with the players. “I asked (Brad) if that was the case, and he said, ‘No,’ and I believe him.”
Hurdle said after the game that he didn’t believe the Owings hit-by-pitch was the turning point in the contest, but Ahmed certainly thought so.
“You saw what happened (last night),” Ahmed said. “They’re a good team and kind of imploded after that and we ended up winning the game. … I don’t want to put guys on base to give the other team an opportunity to come back in a game, especially when we’re winning. I think it really hurt them last night.
“I think the better retaliation is just to go out and beat them.”