Michael Barrett says he has already moved on past his second dugout argument with a Cubs pitcher in two weeks. Whether fans and teammates will let it go remains to be seen.
Barrett
Barrett, who got into a dugout shoving match and then a clubhouse brawl with Carlos Zambrano during a game earlier this month, had a heated discussion with left-hander Rich Hill in the fourth inning of Chicago's 5-3 loss to the Seattle Mariners on Tuesday night. Cameras trained on the Cubs dugout caught the two arguing after Hill gave up an RBI single to Seattle pitcher Jarrod Washburn.
"It was the heat of the moment," Barrett said. "Rich did a pretty good job overall, and I think he
was pretty disappointed about hanging a slider to Washburn. It
wasn't even a big deal. We were just talking about pitch selection,
what we were going to do next inning."
Hill denied there was a problem, saying he was angry with himself. "No, no, no," he said. "No disagreement. I just told [Barrett] I was upset about the pitch. I just wish I made a better pitch to Washburn. He said 'Just hang in there and keep us where we're at and we're going to win this game.' "
Barrett, whose RBI single tied the game at 3-3 in the eighth, had bigger problems later. He mishandled a throw from right fielder Jacque Jones in the top of the 13th inning as Jose Vidro scored the winning run on a Willie Bloomquist RBI single.
"I saw him at third base, and I was going to make him run over me to touch home plate," Barrett said. "At the last second, I don't know, it either came out of my glove or I just took my eye off of it. I'll have to look at [the replay]."
On June 1, Barrett and Zambrano had to be separated in the dugout during an argument, and then continued their fight in the clubhouse. Both men apologized and were disciplined by the team for the fracas, and later said they had resolved their differences the next day.