CHICAGO (AP) -White Sox starter Mark Buehrle said Monday there is no animosity between him and catcher A.J. Pierzynski.
Buehrle defended reserve catcher Toby Hall on Sunday after Pierzynski went on a Chicago radio station Friday and said he was disappointed because he wasn’t in the lineup for the interleague opener against the Cubs.
Those comments and subsequent ones by the show’s host led White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen to go on a profanity-laced outburst toward the host after he phoned in from his car.
Buehrle defended backup catcher Toby Hall, who started in place of Pierzynski on Friday.
“I think it is disrespecting Toby,” Buehrle told the Chicago Tribune before Sunday’s game against the Cubs. “It’s kind of saying: ‘You can’t do your job.’ I don’t see where he has to be in there just because it’s a big rivalry. That doesn’t matter. He needs a day off. Whether it’s against the Cubs or anyone else, he needs a day off.”
Buehrle said he talked to Pierzynski before Monday’s game against Oakland and straightened things out.
“It kind of got blown out of proportion, kind of a story being made up of nothing, said Buehrle, as Pierzynski sat silently at the locker next to him. “That’s just A.J., he likes to be involved in the media. Nothing personal. I don’t know what the big deal is. I read it and I think it was kind of a misunderstanding what was said.”
Pierzynski declined to speak with reporters Monday.
Pierzynski caught Buehrle’s no-hitter on April 19 and hit a grand slam in Sunday’s 10-6 win at Wrigley Field against the Cubs.
“We’re fighting right now, take the story and run with it,” Buehrle joked.
Hall made his White Sox debut on Friday after being out with a dislocated right shoulder. He went 2-for-3, made two errors and had a crucial passed ball in the White Sox’s 6-3 loss.
“Whatever gets stirred up I don’t want to be involved in it,” Hall said.
Guillen thought both players used bad judgment by going public with their comments.
“No matter what the reason is, who is right, who is wrong, to me, both were wrong,” Guillen said. “If this thing continues like that, ‘If you want to fight, the locker room is going to be empty, you’ll get it done and we move on.’ Because they are going to be together for a long time. They’re pitcher and catcher and I don’t think there is going to be any reason to do that. Hopefully everything is cleared after today.”
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