Texas Rangers pitcher Matt Garza went off on Oakland A’s shortstop Eric Sogard and the infielder’s wife via Twitter after taking the loss in a game between the teams earlier in the day.
When Garza pitched against the A’s on July 3 as a member of the Chicago Cubs, he mowed them down allowing just four hits and three walks in eight innings of 1-run ball for the win. This time around, the A’s decided to take an aggressive, small-ball approach with Garza, which is atypical of the team.
They got a bunt hit, sac bunt, single, home run and single in the span of Garza’s first 10 pitches. They scored three in the first and beat the Rangers 4-1, with Garza taking the loss.
So what’s Garza’s beef with Sogard?
Sogard sacrifice bunted in the first, and then he got an RBI after laying down a squeeze bunt in the seventh. Garza was pretty ticked that the small-ball methods worked, and he had words for Sogard after the bunt.
After the game, Garza would not share what he said to Sogard.
“I asked where’s a good place to eat in Oakland,” Garza told reporters after the game. “They showed me how they were going to play and how they were going to attack me, and that’s fine. Next time, I’ll be ready. That’s it.”
Sogard said after the game that the A’s went bunt-heavy because Garza does not field his position well.
“It’s kind of no secret that Garza has some trouble throwing to first sometimes,” Sogard said, via the Dallas Morning News. “Small ball is definitely a tool we have and can use. We scored, and anytime that happens he’s not going to be happy.”
The A’s bunted four times in the game, and Sogard wasn’t the only player who mentioned Garza’s weakness of fielding his position. A’s starter Jarrod Parker did too.
Even Sogard’s wife, Kaycee, tweeted about the bunting approach:
Get em on get em over get em in!
— Kaycee Sogard (@KayceeSogard) August 3, 2013
Then at some point, it looks like someone was called a name, because Kaycee sent this tweet:
Not sure where my last tweet went, but I find it funny ;) Eric is probably the last person to respond to getting called names.
— Kaycee Sogard (@KayceeSogard) August 3, 2013
Garza, meanwhile, went on a rant toward Sogard and wife via his Twitter account. Here’s what he said (as captured by Lana Berry):
Yes, that’s Garza tweeting at Kaycee, “tell your husband to speak up so his wife doesn’t have to do it for him.”
Garza then tweeted at Eric, telling him, “Where I come from, If my wife spoke up for me, so give your husband his balls back! It’s a mans game and keep your trap shut!
“Keep your woman out of it … Mans game … So no place.”
Garza told Eric over Twitter it’s “childish is having your wife speak for you! certain people can’t shut there woman up!”
He also fired off this missile:
Garza eventually cooled off and apologized.
In case you doubted whether that Twitter account is a genuine one since it is protected and unverified, here’s a tweet from Garza’s agency in January that confirms it belongs to the pitcher:
#Cubs Matt Garza (@Gdeuceswild) agrees to $10.25M contract to avoid salary arbitration. #MLB #Arb2013
— CAA Baseball (@CAA_Baseball) January 18, 2013
Sogard seemed to stay out of the matters, though he did send one liner that would tweak Garza:
Fun night at the A's Bowling Bash after a great win today. Glad to see the bunting practice is paying off
— Eric Sogard (@EricSogard) August 4, 2013
As for why the A’s bunted four times on Saturday, look no further than this:
H/T The Blogfines, Lana Berry
