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CINCINNATI (AP) — Arizona manager Chip Hale warned other teams on Saturday about plunking Diamondbacks leadoff hitter Jean Segura, who took exception to the latest pitch that hit him.
Segura led off Friday night's game with a homer and then got hit in the lower back on the first pitch by Cincinnati's Dan Straily in his next at-bat. Segura motioned toward the mound, but the umpires kept the peace and warned both benches.
Hale acknowledged that Segura stands close to the plate, which makes him easier to hit. But the manager said it looked like Straily hit him on purpose.
"For the umpire to give a warning takes away your chance to show Jean you're behind him," Hale said. "We have to protect our teammates. We talk about it with our pitchers.
"I hope these (opposing) pitchers understand that if they're going to continue to hit our players, especially when it looks like — and it looked like that in San Francisco and it looked like that last night — that the pitcher hit him because he hit a home run, there's going to be some retribution at some point."
Segura has been hit eight times, tied for eighth-most in the National League. Miami's Derek Dietrich has been hit 18 times, most in the NL. Three times this season, Segura has been hit by a pitch in the same game in which he homered, including against San Francisco on July 8.
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