Javy Baez on Garrett's antics: "I'm not gonna let anyone disrespect my teammates" |
The Cubs got the much-needed 3-2 victory against the Reds on Sunday.
During the eighth inning, Reds reliever Amir Garrett entered the ballgame and struck out Anthony Rizzo. Garrett immediately showed up Rizzo by cursing and showboating. Cubs shortstop Javy Baez saw Garrett's reaction and gave Garrett the middle finger and was held back by a few players. Baez talked to the media following the contest and talked about the classless moment by Garrett. "Like Rossy said he's got a style," Baez said. "We all get that. But I'm not going to let him or anyone disrespect my teammates or my team. It was not a big situation, you know. I’m going to try to stay professional with this. It doesn’t matter, he’ll do it again. If somebody else does it again, we will go out there again. That’ not a problem. Like I said, he needs to respect the game. If you don’t respect the game and you don’t respect us, then that’s going to happen. Because he’s doing that to us. He’s not doing it to his teammates. He’s not doing it to pump up his teammates. He’s disrespecting us. As long as he does it, we’ll be there too. Baez continued. “I’ve hit three homers against him, and I didn’t do anything to show him up or his team,” Baez said. “Like I said, he can be 6-foot-7, he can be 10 feet – we’re not afraid of that. We’re here to play baseball and win games. We’re not here to fight. Baez believes that even Garrett's teammates don't like his antics. “I don’t know what’s going on over there, but whatever they say, they’re lying. Even his teammates are not on his side. They know he’s wrong. It is what it is. He wants to look at it like that, like he’s right, then fine. Be that guy. Nobody is going to follow that.” Baez just wants to play baseball. "I like what he does, he just got to do it to his team and not to us after a strikeout. I've hit three homers against him and I didn't do anything to show him up or his team. Like I said, he can be 6-foot-7, he can be 10 feet – we’re not afraid of that. We’re here to play baseball and win games. We’re not here to fight." Here's @Reds pitcher Amir Garrett MFing Anthony Rizzo after striking him out. Javy, who has his own past with Garrett, takes umbrage.@Cubs #GoCubsgo pic.twitter.com/WfB4yRu1kw
