VIDEO: Harper, Votto exchange words after youngster is plunked

Bryce Harper took his time getting down to first base after being struck squarely in the back by an errant fastball from Tony Cingrani of the Cincinnati Reds on Friday evening.

Joey Votto, though, didn't seem to appreciate the leisurely pace at which Harper took his base in the top of the seventh inning at Great American Ball Park.

(Courtesy: MLB.com)

Cingrani, who had yet to hit a batter in 18 1/3 innings prior to Friday's game, suggested after his team secured a 5-2 victory that Harper ought to have hustled down to first base.

"He should have jogged, but what are you going to do?" Cingrani told MLB.com's Mark Sheldon. "Be a baseball player. Sorry I hit you, run."

Harper, however, was a bit more cryptic after the game, telling reporters that he and Votto were merely having some "playful conversation."

Harper, by the way, entered Friday's contest with 13 home runs and a 1.744 OPS over his previous 19 games.