After warning, Kontos ejected for hitting McCutchen

PITTSBURGH -- Giants right-hander George Kontos, ejected from Tuesday night's 8-2 loss to the Pirates after hitting Andrew McCutchen with an eighth-inning pitch, insisted that he was simply trying to work inside.

Kontos was automatically thrown out by home-plate umpire Wally Bell, who issued a warning to both benches earlier in the inning when the reliever threw a 1-1 pitch behind Starling Marte. Giants manager Bruce Bochy also was automatically tossed, marking his third ejection of the season.

"These guys had been putting good hacks on the ball all game," Kontos said. "If you're staying outside and these guys are diving over the plate, they're going to hit those outside pitches pretty squarely."

The genesis of McCutchen's plunking occurred one inning earlier, when he singled leading off against Kontos.

"First pitch of the seventh inning, he put a really good swing on it," Kontos said, "and they were hacking early and out over the plate, so I was trying to pitch inside. A sinker got away from me a little bit."

Asked if the ejection was fair, Bochy said, "Well, in that situation, yeah. You get a warning, then you end up hitting a guy, sure. There's no surprise there. That's part of the game. You have no argument."