Joe Maddon Calls Bullshit On The Cardinals Way 

Anthony Rizzo has been hit by a MLB-high 29 pitches this season. Two of them came yesterday, including a rather conspicuous plunk in the seventh from Cardinals reliever Matt Belisle in yesterday’s 8-3 win.

Belisle and manager Mike Matheny were both immediately ejected on account of the HBP was most likely a retaliation for an earlier incident, wherein Dan Haren sent one sailing towards Matt Holiday’s dome in the fifth inning. Haren even warned Rizzo that a ball was probably headed his way, as he had previous experience defending Cardinal stars with choice plunkings when he was on the team a decade back.

Belisle defended the hit as a control issue while trying to pitch Rizzo inside, but Maddon wasn’t having it.

Joe fed up:

“I never read this book the Cardinals wrote way back in the day regarding how to play baseball...You can take that book and read it yourself because I don’t give a crap about that book. I want everyone there to understand we don’t start stuff but we stop stuff.”

The Cardinals lead the NL Central by five games over the Pirates and six games over the Cubs, who are still in position for a wild card berth.

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