Carl Edwards admits to defending teammates by plunking batter |
The Chicago Cubs escaped with a 6-4 victory against the Seattle Mariners which played mostly their minor league squad on Wednesday.
The game was wild and wacky as the Mariners plunked Willson Contreras and Kris Bryant and then Carl Edwards Jr. retaliated and hit Austin Nola in the back and was subsequently ejected by home plate umpire Alfonso Marquez. Contreras and Nola had some words but no fight broke out. Edwards was asked by the media on Wednesday if he threw on Nola on purpose for hitting some of the Cubs' top players. "Yea, I did. It's just, honestly, it's like the nature of the game -- spring training or not. It's just you get to a point where you're kind of tired of the guys getting hit. I mean, those are our big guys. That's 25-man roster. Those are guys that are going to help us win championships, help us win ballgames. And, you know, all due respect, but it's the nature of the game. And it just gets to a point where you just get tired, you know? Yes, it was Willy and a couple innings before it was KB." Edwards knows that admitting to plunking a batter on purpose might get him in trouble. "They might. I have no idea,” he said of the league office. "But like I said it’s the nature of the game. When the regular-season starts, if it’s a series and guys get hit, I really expect for us to do the same thing. And I expect the same from other teams." Don't mess with the Cubs as Edwards will defend his teammates even if it's just a meaningless spring training game. Edwards had a 2.60 ERA and 67 strikeouts last season.
