Adam Wainwright Backtracked From Grooving Pitch to Derek Jeter Comment in Awkward Interview with Erin Andrews

Adam Wainwright gave up a double to Derek Jeter in the first inning of Tuesday night’s All Star Game in Minnesota. It later turned into a bit of a “controversy” since the Cardinals pitcher said he grooved a pitch for Jeter to hit to reporters after he left the game. The reaction to Wainwright admitting such an act was mostly negative on the Internet, leading to a very awkward, hastily-arranged in-game interview with Fox’s Erin Andrews in the bottom of the eighth inning.

Adam Wainwright admitted he grooved a fastball to Derek Jeter in the first: “I was gonna give him a couple pipe shots. He deserved it."
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) July 16, 2014

Wainwright backtracked from the comments he made — which you can watch here — and tried to say his sense of humor was misinterpreted. Andrews thanked Wainwright for “clearing that up” and asked him if he “loved social media?” to which he mumbled, “No. I don’t love social media.”

It was somehow, all things considered, possibly more awkward than Andrews’ on-field interview with Richard Sherman after the NFC Championship Game in January.

Well … tomorrow is a dead zone on the sports calendar, so it looks like we’ll have something to talk about. It’s doubtful the American League’s ho-hum 5-3 win will have much traction.