TORONTO — John Danks and the White Sox were none too pleased with home-run leader Jose Bautista’s reaction to popping out to shortstop during the fourth inning of an 8-1 game on Sunday.
Bautista slammed his bat to the artificial turf about halfway down the first-base line. He and Danks exchanged words as Bautista passed him on his way to the Blue Jays dugout.
“I just told him to run the bases,” Danks said. “He’s out there acting like a f—ing clown. He’s a good player. He’s had a great year and a half, no doubt. He’s been one of the best hitters in the league. He’s out there acting like he’s Babe Ruth or something. It’s horse—- I think.”
The previous batter, Corey Patterson, had homered off Danks, who was well on his way to falling to 0-8 as the Sox lost 13-4.
The Blue Jays were winning big and Bautista reacted like it was a crucial out. Danks said the score of the game wasn’t an issue with him.
“No, just the way he was acting,” Danks said. “He ran halfway down the line and stopped and spiked his bat. I get it, he’s upset at himself. I threw him a 3-1 fastball he missed and I threw him another heater. Like I said he’s a good hitter. He’s had a great couple of years but he isn’t that good to act like he needs to be hitting every ball out of the ballpark.
“That’s the way I feel. You know, I have pride — I really do. I have had a pretty crappy year at this point but I have pride still I’m not going let him go out there and show me up like that.”
Bautista said his baserunning “should not be [Danks’s] concern anyways.”
“I was upset at missing a pitch, at myself,” he said. “If he took it the wrong way, I’m sorry. I’m not here to make him feel good. It really doesn’t matter to me what he thought. What I’m not going to allow is when I’m running by him, him yelling at me again, so I yelled back at him.”
Bautista was taken out of the game in the sixth inning.
