Castellanos: Cardinals only had issue with my bat because 'I drove in 6'

The Cincinnati Reds-St. Louis Cardinals rivalry got a little chippy in more ways than one Wednesday.

Controversy flared early in the second game of a doubleheader when umpires inspected the bat of Reds outfielder Nick Castellanos after a second-inning grand slam. While the blast ultimately stood, Castellanos wasn't allowed to use his bat again after a chip was discovered on the end of it.

(Source: MLB.com)

Cardinals manager Mike Shildt requested the bat check, which didn't appear to sit well with Castellanos postgame.

"My view is that was my second homer and I drove in six," Castellanos said, according to Mark Sheldon of MLB.com. "All of a sudden, there was an issue. There was no issue when (Jon) Lester absolutely carved me up. And there was no issue in the first game. But then there was an issue."

Shildt insisted there were no ulterior motives behind the move. Both he and the umpires cited rules that prevent players from using a chipped bat for safety reasons.

"It was brought, obviously, to our attention that the cupped portion of Castellanos' bat was broken off, which when we inspected it, it was," crew chief Phil Cuzzi said. "We simply told him, 'We're not going to take away the home run. You just can't use the bat.' It was as simple as that."

Castellanos, who got into a benches-clearing fracas with the Cardinals earlier this year, ended up finding a creative solution to the whole mess.

"I decided to give that dangerous piece of lumber to some lucky kid that was sitting above the dugout, so at the end of the day, everybody wins," he said.