During the Cincinnati Reds 14-inning marathon victory against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Monday night, things got heated between Reds second baseman Brandon Phillips and Pirates pitcher Jared Hughes, but, after a talk, the two have cleared the air.
The Cincinnati Enquirer reports that Hughes hit Phillips with a pitch in the eighth inning. Phillips stepped slightly toward the mound but then continued onto first base, picking up the ball and tossing it back to Hughes along the way. The two players exchanged words; though exactly what was said wasn’t clear, Phillips tweet after the game gave a clue.
“#RealTalk… Not really surprised by what I heard come outta another player’s mouth tonite but DAMN… Still PISSED bout that [expletive] #Racism,” he tweeted.
MLB.com reports that in the light of the day, Phillips reached out to Hughes to talk things over, texting Hughes’ teammate Andrew McCutchen to make contact. Hughes wanted to talk too, and now both players seem to have a mutual respect for one another.
“Last night, it was a heated moment for me, especially being from Stone Mountain, Ga., a lot of crazy things go down and a lot of racist stuff happened from the South,” Phillips said Tuesday. “I was real [angry] about the situation. Me and Mr. Hughes, we had a great conversation before I came to the stadium today. It was the best thing that ever happened, talking to him in general about what happened and talking to him about things that I heard and stuff… I respect him as a player and also as a man from the conversation me and him had.”
Brandon Phillips, or DatDudeBP as he’s known on Twitter, didn’t apologize for the tweet but did say the story is over and that whatever was discussed was between he and Jared Hughes.
The Pittsburgh pitcher relayed a similar sentiment.
“I just want to say Brandon Phillips is someone I’ve always respected as a man and as a player. I grew up watching him play, and admiring his play,” Hughes said. “We talked today, and got it all cleared up. I’m glad I had a chance to tell him my side of the story myself. Anything that was said stays between Brandon and myself.”
