Willson Contreras was apparently ready to throw down.
After a collision at first base on Saturday between the Cardinals infielder and Brewers third baseman Caleb Durbin in the bottom of the third inning, Milwaukee first baseman Rhys Hoskins expressed his displeasure with Contreras from the home dugout.
On Durbin’s groundout, Contreras took a step back with his right leg after recording the out, putting it in the path of Durbin, who collided with Contreras and then went tumbling to the ground.
Contreras chirped right back at Hoskins after the play and seemed ready for a confrontation, though the situation was diffused.
However, Brewers pitcher and ex-Met Jose Quintana then plunked Contreras on the left arm in the top of the fifth. Contreras ran to pick up the ball and handed it to Quintana before jogging to first base.
Each team was issued a warning after the hit by pitch.
Contreras, whose brother William is the Brewers’ catcher, called out one of the Brewers players after the game, though he did not specify if this was directed at Hoskins.
“One of their players likes to talk from far away, but when he got to my face, he didn’t say s–t,” Contreras told reporters after Saturday’s 8-5 Cardinals win. “I was looking for more than that. He seems to be tough, but he’s a f—ing p—y. I’m not going to name names. He knows who he is.”
Asked later about Hoskins, Contreras said, “He didn’t say nothing to me. I was expecting for him to say something, but he was looking away already. Look at my face — just say it to my face, whatever you say from the dugout. He was looking away and said, ‘Get off the base.’ I said, ‘Push me,’ and he didn’t. So, it was good.”
Contreras said he had no issues with Quintana, a former Cubs teammate, and believes he did nothing wrong on the play that led to the collision with Durbin.
“I wasn’t trying to get him hurt,” Contreras said. “I mean, he was running inside the line. I stayed there. I have all the right to stand on the bag. I don’t think that’s anyone’s fault.”