Bad blood boils over

Troy Tulowitzki was taken to the hospital for precautionary X-rays on his left elbow, which came back negative, after being hit by Ubaldo Jimenez?s very first pitch of the game Sunday.

Jimenez made it clear immediately afterwards that he was sending his former teammate a message, pounding his chest after the pitch. Tulo started to take some steps toward the mound, causing the benches to clear. Both players were held back by teammates before matters could escalate.

Jimenez and Tulo had already had it out a bit in the media this month. Jimenez has made it clear he felt disrespected by the Rockies when he was shipped to Cleveland at the trade deadline last year. Tulowitzki indicated that Jimenez was a difficult teammate. CBSSports quoted him saying the following in a March 8 article:

You try to get a feel for a teammate, and we can?t get anything back. People ask, ?Well, he?s your teammate, don?t you know what?s wrong with him?

We tried to ask him. And we couldn?t get anything in return.

Considering Jimenez?s history, one wonders why the Indians had him pitching today in the first place. He wasn?t ejected from the game, though he probably should have been. A five-game suspension is certainly warranted given his actions.

Update: Jimenez said after the outing that the pitch was unintentional and that his chest pounding was a response to Tulo?s words.

?The thing that got started was, he was calling me out (from the batters box). I mean, I?m a man. If somebody calls me out, I have to go. He was calling me chicken. He was calling me names,? Jimenez said.

The Denver Post?s Troy Renck also reports that the Rockies are expected to request that Jimenez be suspended.

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