Cincinnati Reds unhappy with Luke Voit for 'dirty' slide into Tyler Stephenson -- 'It looked like a wrestling move'

The Reds are upset with Padres slugger Luke Voit for his collision at home plate Tuesday that left Cincinnati catcher Tyler Stephenson with a concussion.

«The way his hands hit him, it was dirty as f---,» Reds outfielder Tommy Pham told reporters. «I don't like it at all. The way [Voit's] hands hit [Stephenson] in the face, it was dirty.

»If Luke wants to settle it, I get down really well. Anything — Muay Thai, whatever. I've got a [gym] owner here who will let me use his facility."

Voit slammed into Stephenson while trying to score from first on Jurickson Profar's double. As he went into his slide, Voit raised his arms and then brought them down forcefully into Stephenson's head as he landed.

Stephenson held onto the ball for the out but was on the ground for several minutes. He was able to walk to the dugout but did not return to the game.

«I didn't have a problem with the slide,» Reds manager David Bell told reporters. «But it's a helpless feeling when one of your players gets hit in the head and they're lying there. It's scary for me.»

The 255-pound Voit said he was trying to avoid Stephenson but admitted his elbow «kind of smoked his head a little bit.»

«I wasn't trying to take him out or anything,» Voit said. «I guess my elbow just kind of smoked his head a little bit. Hope he's all right, no hard feelings. It's baseball. I wasn't trying to make it dirty or anything. I'm just trying to make a play obviously.»

The Reds challenged the call, but umpires ruled Voit's slide was clean.

«It didn't end up hurting us because we didn't need the challenge,» Bell said. «I thought it could've been an illegal slide. That doesn't mean that Voit did it intentionally.»

«The ball takes him right into Luke,» Padres manager Bob Melvin