Maddon: We're not going to tolerate beanballs

The Chicago Cubs won't be pushed around.

A day after the Pittsburgh Pirates plunked two Cubs players in a 7-2 Chicago win, manager Joe Maddon aired out his feelings about how things transpired.

To Maddon, this had nothing to do with a rivalry. It was about a young pitcher (Kyle Lobstein) making a bad baseball decision that was exaggerated by the public's thinking that it was a rivalry fueled moment.

"I was upset just to be thrown at, I was really upset when you go after a real professional like Ben Zobrist," Maddon told MLB Network Radio. "It makes no sense to me whatsoever why you would target a guy like him.

"We're not going to tolerate it, that's all. We're just not gonna put up with that stuff. I really don't have time for that kind of nonsense."

Maddon said the decision to throw at Zobrist was likely the result of Chicago hitting Starling Marte. But he went on to say that it wasn't intentional, because, from a strategic standpoint, putting a runner on base for Francisco Cervelli and Gregory Polanco up next is foolish.

Maddon added that when Addison Russell got plunked early in the game, his team "didn't even think about any retaliation." In fact, he believes Lobstein's decision to hit Zobrist stems from a mob mentality that made him think it was the right thing to do in that situation.

"I'm certain that wasn't even in his mindset until somebody put it in his ear," Maddon said, saying he would never encourage beanballs. "I don't tell anybody to hit anybody and I wouldn't do that."