Major League Baseball

Baker defends Cueto after high pitch

Published May. 27, 2013 1:00 a.m. ET

foxsports

Reds manager Dusty Baker says he doesn't understand why Cubs pitcher Matt Garza was incensed by Johnny Cueto's pitch high over David DeJesus' head. He also suggested a way to settle their differences.

Baker's suggestion: ''I just wish they'd put them in a room and let them box and it would be over with - like hockey.''

Baker said Monday that the Cincinnati ace ''couldn't have hit Wilt Chamberlain with that pitch.'' Both dugouts were warned after the play in the sixth inning Sunday of the Cubs' 5-4, 10-inning win. An angry Garza called Cueto ''immature'' after the game.

“That’s immature on his part. ... If he wants to say something to me, he knows where my locker is. If he’s got a problem, he can throw at me, and I’ll do the same. Hopefully, he grows ... up. I hope he hears this. I really don’t care. I don’t know if there’s anything between him and (DeJesus), but I’ll stop it. I don’t think you intentionally try to injure somebody. I hope the league looks at it. I don’t want him suspended or anything. I hope his players talk to him and show him the way it is,” Garza said.

Cueto was not at his cubicle in the Reds clubhouse before their game Monday against Cleveland.

Baker also questioned whether Garza would have been as upset had he pitched better than his four-inning, four-run outing.