Heyward stung 'at least 20 times' during bee attack

Chicago Cubs manager Joe Maddon has gained notoriety this spring for running a circus-like training camp in Arizona, but Jason Heyward insists Sunday's strange third inning was no stunt.

The Cubs' exhibition game against the Seattle Mariners was delayed for several minutes after a swarm of bees invaded Sloan Park and nearly chased the Gold Glove outfielder over the fence in center.

"I wasn't thinking to get out of there until it just got crazy," Heyward told Patrick Mooney of CSN Chicago. "I just tried to get out of the way. I should have went over the fence."

(Courtesy: MLB.com)

Heyward told reporters postgame he was stung more than 10 times, and fortunately isn't allergic to bees. He later revised the estimated damage on Twitter.

"Got stung at least 20 times smh," Heyward tweeted.

Heyward not only survived the attack, but he exacted a measure of revenge, drilling a two-run homer during the bottom half of the inning and leaving his teammates wondering if there's anything the superstar center fielder can't do.

"That was wild - I've never had a delay like that before," said Cubs right-hander Jason Hammel, who allowed two of Robinson Cano's three homers. "I had no idea. But once I figured out what was going on, you could see from the whole left-field line all the way out to center - they were everywhere. The fact that Heyward isn't swollen beyond belief right now - I don't know how he made it out of that."