White Sox outfielder Alejandro De Aza and Cubs reliever Manny Corpas are off-field friends, but that didn’t stop them from creating some drama in the Chicago interleague series yesterday.
With the White Sox up 7-0 in the eighth inning Corpas came into the game and plunked De Aza on the leg with his first pitch, presumably because Alex Rios attempted a stolen base up 6-0 in the previous inning. Or something.
Whatever the case, De Aza said afterward that he thinks it was intentional:
I don’t know, but the way he threw that ball, I think it was on purpose. I did face him before. Actually, me and that pitcher, we’re cool, we’re friends. I’ve known him for a long time. I think they just told him to hit the first guy.
Cubs manager Dale Sveum predictably downplayed the topic when asked, saying: “I don’t know. He hit him. It happens sometimes.”
Yes, “sometimes” like when a manager tells a pitcher to hit a batter in a blowout.