Buck Showalter responds to John Lackey's PED dig at Nelson Cruz
Baltimore Orioles manager Buck Showalter responded Sunday to Boston Red Sox pitcher John Lackey's dig at slugger Nelson Cruz, a day after Lackey took a shot at Cruz for his 50-game suspension last year as part of the Biogenesis performance-enhancing drugs scandal.
Cruz had a homer, a double, and a single off Lackey during the second game of a doubleheader on Saturday, part of a 5-for-5 night in the Orioles' 7-4 win. It left Lackey miffed.
"I'm not going to comment on him," Lackey told reporters, according to ESPN.com. "I've got nothing to say about him. There are some things I'd like to say, but I'm not going to. You guys forget pretty conveniently about stuff."
Showalter responded with a not-so-veiled shot at Red Sox slugger David Ortiz, who was one of more than 100 players listed in a 2003 report as having taken a banned substance. Ortiz was never disciplined for his alleged ties to performance-enhancing drugs.
"There's so many insinuations, quite frankly, about people in every club. You usually don't hear those comments after a shutout or something," Showalter told ESPN Radio on Sunday.
Showalter later added: "Everybody needs to make sure that their own backyard is clean."
When asked about Lackey's comments, Cruz took a higher road than his manager. He said he's gotten used to criticism for his suspension, and said he only cares what his teammates think.
“What I care is about my teammates, what they think about me,” Cruz said, according to The Baltimore Sun. “When you go to ballparks and beat other teams, they are not going to be happy, regardless of what you do. What I care about is what my teammates think about me and what my fans think about me."
