The San Francisco Giants optioned right-hander Zack Littell to Triple-A Sacramento on Tuesday, one day after he got into a heated exchange with manager Gabe Kapler while being pulled from a game.
Littell was called on to pitch the eighth inning of San Francisco's 3-2 victory over the Atlanta Braves on Monday. He recorded two outs in the eighth but gave up two runs, three hits and one walk.
With left-handed slugger Matt Olson of the Braves coming to the plate, Kapler came out to pull Littell in favor of left-hander Scott Alexander. And Littell angrily exploded at his manager when he asked for the ball.
"I just said I wanted Olson," Littell told reporters afterward. "Not that I pitched well enough to deserve that at all. I think any guy out there is going to want to finish an inning. That's all it was. Frustration that I didn't get through that and not by any means frustration towards (Kapler). Just frustrated with myself and yeah, came out that way."
After the pitching change was complete, Kapler went back to the dugout and summoned Littell to follow him and they disappeared from view.
"I think Zack wanted to stay in that game obviously," Kapler said. "He's a competitor and wanted to finish that inning and I think it was just his wanting me to know that he wanted that inning. There's obviously a way to do that. Zack knows that. We discussed it.
"He knows that when I come out to get the ball, he just needs to put the ball in my hand, then we'll talk about anything later. We open the door for conversations around when players enter and exit games, and I'm happy to discuss those things with players. There's a way to do that. I think Zack understands that."
Littell said he apologized to Kapler after the contest.
Littell, 26, is 3-3 with a shaky 5.08 ERA in 39 appearances this season. It is a disappointing season compared to last year when he was 4-0 with a 2.92 ERA in 63 appearances.
San Francisco recalled left-hander Thomas Szapucki from Sacramento in a corresponding move.
Szapucki, 26, had a 2.25 ERA in three appearances for the Giants earlier this season and also pitched in one game for the Mets (allowing nine runs in 1 1/3 innings). San Francisco acquired him at the trade deadline when Darin Ruf was dealt to the Mets.
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