Cubs News

San Francisco Giants ace Madison Bumgarner struck out Chicago Cubs outfielder Jason Heyward on Thursday in the fourth inning with a nasty pitch that caught Heyward looking. What came next had everyone watching the game scratching their heads. Heyward appeared to say something to Bumgarner, but he was really looking past the pitcher to teammate Dexter Fowler, who was on second base. Heyward later said he was asking Fowler whether the pitch was a strike or not, but Bumgarner and catcher Buster Posey momentarily misunderstood and thought Heyward was talking to Bumgarner. [ Sign up for Fantasy Baseball | Play for $40K | Expert rankings | Mock draft ] The umpire immediately positioned himself in front of Heyward as Bumgarner approached. The Giants quickly seemed to accept Heyward’s explanation and the situation ended, though the whole thing left the Giants under the impression the Cubs were trying to steal signs and had a miscommunication in doing so. Chicago went on to win 16-14. "You might want to be a little more discreet about that if you want to do that kind of thing," Bumgarner told reporters after the game . Heyward took responsibility for the confusion and insisted there was no attempt to steal signs. "I think it was a misunderstanding," Heyward said. "[Bumgarner's] a gamer. He wants to go out there and be in every big spot for his team; he's shown that in the regular season and postseason. It's a misunderstanding. No tipping of the signs. I understand people would say, 'They wouldn't tell us anyways.' Believe it or not, that wasn't going on." [ This new Pirates hot dog is like the worst 'Chopped' recipe ever ] It's not a great idea for Heyward to say anything in that situation, but particularly not in the direction of the pitcher, which could be easily misunderstood. Heyward and Fowler have been teammates for only a month and they'll probably come up with a better system for sharing information in the future in similar situations because of this. Hey, that's what spring training is for, right? It's a good thing no one lost their cool and did anything stupid. If it had been a regular season game, that might not have been the case. More MLB coverage from Yahoo Sports: The StewPod: A baseball podcast by Yahoo Sports Subscribe via iTunes or via RSS feed - - - - - - - Kyle Ringo is a contributing writer to Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @KyleRingo

From now on, Dexter Fowler says whenever Jason Heyward asks for a signal, Fowler will give him a simple thumbs-up or thumbs-down. Heyward and Fowler got their signals crossed up with the Giants' Madison Bumgarner and Buster Posey, who thought the two Cubs were stealing signs.

National League Cy Young winner Jake Arrieta was expected to throw 90 pitches Thursday afternoon but lasted just one-third of an inning because of a blister on his right thumb. The Cubs said the problem was minor.

The anticipated pitching matchup between Cubs right-hander Jake Arrieta and Giants lefty Madison Bumgarner never materialized Thursday. It was replaced by a typically hitting-laden, error-filled Cactus League affair in which Chicago amassed eight runs in the fifth inning to prevail, 16-14.

Jake Arrieta left the game in the first inning with a blister and Madison Bumgarner left in the fourth as the Chicago Cubs outlasted the San Francisco Giants 16-14 on Thursday night. The four-hour game had a combined 33 hits, three each by the Cubs Dexter Fowler and the Giants Joe Panik. Kris Bryant drove in three, Fowler, Jason Heyward and Anthony Rizzo each had a pair of RBIs for the Cubs.

Chris Carter and Martin Maldonado each hit three-run homers, Wily Peralta threw six strong innings and the Milwaukee Brewers beat the Kansas City Royals 9-2 on Thursday. Ryan Braun was a late scratch for the Brewers due to lower back soreness. Braun's replacement, Eric Young Jr., hit a two-run homer.

When Miguel Montero was on the D-backs, Joe Garagiola, who died Wednesday at the ago of 90, would always stop by to chat with the young catcher.

At this time last spring, Kris Bryant had hit nine home runs, tops in both Arizona and Florida. The Cubs third baseman had one heading into Thursday's game against the Giants.

Matt Bush was long ago designated as the biggest draft bust in the history of the San Diego Padres. The No. 1 overall pick in 2004 later bottomed out on a personal level as an incident while driving under the influence led to a 3 1/2-year stint in a Florida prison. Now age 30, Bush is in the mix to make the Texas Rangers as a reliever.

Shane Victorino, who has been slowed this spring by a strained right calf, will not make the Cubs' Opening Day roster and is considering whether he'll rehab in Mesa and then play for the organization's Triple-A team.

SARASOTA, Fla. (AP) -- J.J. Hardy, Jonathan Schoop and Mark Trumbo all homered as the Baltimore Orioles beat the Pittsburgh Pirates to 6-5 on Thursday.

GOODYEAR, Ariz. (AP) -- Pitcher Alfredo Simon has a $2 million base salary as part of his one-year contract with the Cincinnati Reds and can earn an additional $1.5 million in performance bonuses based on innings.

A look at what's happening all around spring training in Florida and Arizona today:

The Cubs held off the Rangers, 10-9, in a Futures Game between the two teams at Surprise Stadium. The game was limited to Minor League players who have never reached the Majors.

Joe Garagiola's nine-year baseball career was a modest one. The man Arizona Diamondbacks President Derrick Hall called ''one of the biggest personalities this game has ever seen'' died Wednesday. The Diamondbacks announced Garagiola's death before their exhibition game against San Francisco, and there were murmurs of shock and sadness at the ballpark.

Former top pick Matt Bush pitched two hitless innings, his latest step for Texas since spending more than three years in prison, and the Rangers beat the Chicago Cubs 5-0 Wednesday. The 30-year-old Bush was released from prison last October. The Rangers signed him to a minor league contract on Dec. 18, and he's been working with minor leaguers this spring.

Dioner Navarro tipped John Danks off to a problem. Since then, the Chicago White Sox left-hander has done just fine. Danks threw six shutout innings for his second consecutive scoreless outing, and Avisail Garcia homered to help the White Sox defeat the San Diego Padres 6-1 on Wednesday.

Derek Holland, in a nice spring pitching duel against Cubs right-hander Kyle Hendricks, pitched five scoreless innings in the Rangers' 5-0 victory over the Cubs on Wednesday afternoon.

Tommy La Stella played his second straight game in the field Wednesday, although it was a Minor League contest. The Cubs have been careful with the infielder this spring as he nurses a strained left calf.