Hammel upset Maddon yanked him: I barely threw 40 pitches

Chicago Cubs right-hander Jason Hammel was not pleased with manager Joe Maddon's decision to pull him from a game Saturday against the Los Angeles Dodgers after pitching just 2 1/3 innings, and he made sure his feelings were known in postgame comments.

"I didn’t even pitch today," the right-hander told reporters, including ESPN's Jesse Rogers. "I barely threw even 40 pitches, so it's a side day today. ... Two balls hit hard. Other than that, I feel like their hits found holes."

Hammel was yanked from the game by Maddon after allowing five hits and three earned runs on 39 pitches, which resembled similar occurrences from last season when the right-hander was pulled early from contests during the Cubs' playoff run.

"He was not happy with me taking him out that early," Maddon explained. "I can understand why, because it's happened in the past. I didn't see the game straightening out."

According to Rogers, Hammel asked Maddon to meet after the game to discuss the move, but the veteran pitcher wouldn't disclose any details about what was said.

"That's a conversation for me and him," Hammel said. "There is no reason that has to be in the papers. It's a professional way of looking at it."

Maddon backed his decision to replace Hammel with rookie Rob Zastryzny, who went on to pitch 3 2/3 scoreless innings.

"I'm not going to hide behind anything. It’s not like I picked that (pulling Hammel early) out of a hat and chose to do it today. There was a reason to do it today."

Despite his poor performance Saturday - which followed a bad outing on Aug. 21 - Hammel has been solid for the Cubs, recording 13 wins to go along with a 3.21 ERA.