Your browser does not support iframes.
*
New York Yankees manager Joe Girardi said the Tampa Bay Rays should stop pitching inside if they're going to keep hitting his players.
Rays manager Joe Maddon says thanks for the advice, but no thanks. Oh, and we're not really sorry, either.
Girardi got his Italian Irish up Tuesday night after Yankees captain*Derek Jeter was hit on the left hand by Steve Geltz on an 0-2 pitch in the eighth inning. Umpire Rob Drake warned both teams, which brought out Maddon and Girardi — who didn't like being warned when his team hadn't done anything.
Girardi even yelled the Rays' way — getting animated at Geltz or Maddon or both — because Geltz's pitch went up and in. Not long after, Girardi was ejected for continuing to argue from the dugout.*Girardi noted later to the media that Rays pitchers hit the Yankees five times over the past four games, including Jeter twice and Chase Headley in the mouth.
Via NJ.com, Maddon said:
"It's nothing to apologize for. It's just part of the game. I do understand their frustration with it and why they were upset. It ended up being what it was. Hopefully tomorrow there is nothing going on and, again,*truthfully, like I said, there was no intent from us."
Later he added, "I understand the frustration. I get it totally."
Maddon's cool attitude probably won't help ease the tensions, even though Girardi's beef wasn't necessarily that the Rays pitchers were trying to hit anyone on purpose.
"If you're going to pitch inside, pitch their right way," Girardi said. "And if you can't pitch inside, don't pitch inside. We're not pincushions."
In the bottom of the eighth, Yankees right-hander David Phelps threw inside at Kevin Kiermaier, but missed. The benches cleared, slowly, and Phelps and interim manager Tony Peña were ejected. The Yankees couldn't quite exact their own pound of flesh.
Before we go any further:

*
So, who's right? Girardi sounds a man at the end of a long, frustrating season. He's done an excellent job managing a team with many problems. And, as Maddon said, it's easy to see why he's frustrated when his players get hit. The best he can hope to do is tell his pitchers to pitch inside without trying to hit anyone on purpose also, and see what it gets him. In the long run, it might make the opposition hesitate to throw inside, if their own hitters fear Yankees retaliation.
More MLB coverage at Yahoo Sports:*




*
- - - - - - -
David Brown is an editor for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] and follow him on Twitter!
Follow @AnswerDave*