PHOENIX—The Cubs are becoming all too familiar with dugout arguments.There was one last June between pitcher Carlos Zambrano and first baseman Derrek Lee, and now another between pitcher Carlos Silva and third baseman Aramis Ramirez in only the team’s fourth game of the spring. Casey McGehee had three hits, including two home runs, and four RBIs to lead the Milwaukee Brewers to a 12-5 victory Wednesday.Silva was upset after he gave up six runs in the first inning – including three unearned because of three errors. According to Cubs manager Mike Quade, Silva entered the dugout and ranted against the defense to no one in particular. Ramirez, who committed one of the miscues, didn’t like his reaction. No punches were thrown and Silva was escorted to the clubhouse by a coach.
“You have two (ticked) off people,” Quade said. “It was a brutal inning. There was plenty of blame to go around. Maybe it’s something we need. That just tells you how poor our defense has been (14 in four games), although we have made our share of pitching mistakes, too.”
The manager’s initial reaction was not to hand out any discipline. The team was to discuss the matter at a meeting.Quade said Silva would have come out of the game, anyway, because he had thrown close to 40 pitches. He admitted that he likes the fire that the players have, “but you have to channel it in the right direction.” Starlin Castro also had an error and the third was charged to Koyie Hill on catcher’s interference on a grounder by Chris Dickerson that extended the inning.McGehee, the Brewers’ third baseman, said he heard yelling, but thought it was someone in the stands initially and the incident appeared over almost before he realized what was occurring in the nearby dugout.McGehee, who signed a one-year contract earlier in the day, hit a two-run homer against Silva in the first, a solo shot off James Russell in the third and a run-scoring single in the fourth.Castro, Alfonso Soriano and Brad Snyder homered for the Cubs.
