Nationals pitcher offers empty apology after throwing near Andrew McCutchen's head

Washington Nationals reliever Jorge López touched off a benches-clearing skirmish against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Wednesday night. Two pitches after plunking Bryan Reynolds in the bottom of the seventh inning, López got wild again, very nearly hitting franchise legend Andrew McCutchen in the head. As you might imagine, McCutchen's teammates weren't too thrilled about that, and they made sure he knew it — especially outfielder Tommy Pham, who had to be restrained from touching off a full-on brawl.

Here's the sequence in its entirety.

López was eventually ejected, and the Pirates got the last laugh when Oneil Cruz launched a game-sealing grand slam later in the frame. Afterwards, though, all anyone wanted to talk about was the López incident.

For his part, the righty struck a conciliatory tone.

“I apologize for everything,” López said, per the Washington Post. “I didn’t make any purpose pitch right there. I’ve been trying to find my way with my delivery, been trying to find my way through the whole season. It’s really miserable to have that happen. I regret what just happened.”

Lopez has indeed been struggling this season, with a 10.57 ERA and a career-high 4.7 BB/9 after Wednesday's action. And the context of the game — Washington was trying to keep the deficit at 2-0 with Pittsburgh threatening — suggests this certainly wasn't intentional.

Still, throwing near someone's head is never acceptable, and Lopez's actions during the fracas don't match up with his words after it.

“I was trying to resolve the problem,” López added. “He knows I always pitch him in. ... I’m just here to tell you I got no problem with you. Just part of the game where you don’t want to be, but just another lesson to learn.”

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Pirates fans shouldn't buy Jorge Lopez's apology after nearly hitting Andrew McCutchen

"Trying to resolve the problem"? Really? If he were really just looking to defuse things after a wild pitch, what was all that jawing back and forth about? And why did he appear to say "that's f****** soft" in McCutchen's direction in the immediate aftermath?

It's a tough position to be in, with an entire opposing team coming after you after making a mistake on the mound. But López can't act that way and then expect everyone to believe that he was just an innocent peacekeeper who felt badly about putting another player's health at risk.

And López also has a history of ... let's just say "erratic" behavior. Just last year, he was DFA'd by the New York Mets following an incident in which he tossed his glove into the Citi Field stands following an ejection. At a certain point, when these sorts of things follow you from one team to another, you become the problem — and you can't expect the Pirates or McCutchen to extend you a ton of sympathy.