Dalton Rushing's response to Jung Hoo Lee situation even feels like a lie to Dodgers fans

Dalton Rushing made himself an enemy of another NL West fanbase on Tuesday, when he went viral for a moment with Giants outfielder Jung Hoo Lee.

Lee was sent home all the way from first on a questionable call from his third base coach, and was out by a mile at the plate. There was no real collision, but Lee stayed on the ground after Rushing tagged him. He said after the game that he'd gotten banged up during the Giants' last series in Washington and was banged up again on that play.

Rushing was caught by the Giants' broadcast walking back to the dugout. He glanced back at the plate, turned back, shrugged, and appeared to say "F— him."

It was a bad look for Rushing, especially after he'd gotten castigated by the court of public opinion for some comments about the Rockies just the week before.

Rushing was asked about the moment and said he didn't even realize Lee was hurt. "Hopefully, he didn't take it the way it was put out. I'll be sure to say something to him face-to-face tomorrow, making sure he's OK."

Sure, man. That feels ... pretty insincere.

Dalton Rushing responds to backlash from heated moment with Jung Hoo Lee in Dodgers-Giants series

"Hopefully, he didn't take it the way it was put out"? What does that even mean? It sounds like Rushing was caught in a moment he didn't expect to be on camera for and was forced to lie to save face. Clearly, he's not a great liar.

There's plenty of reason to believe that Rushing did know Lee was hurt. He was sitting at home plate for some time, and was even so frustrated that he pushed away teammate Drew Gilbert's attempts at consolation multiple times. Rushing was caught looking back at the scene. Do you really want to plead ignorance right now?

Ultimately, Lee was fine, and these guys are professional competitors who are on teams with a lot of historical beef. The Dodgers are already hated by fans all over baseball.

But none of that means that unsportsmanlike conduct is something that we should cheer for. Maybe Rushing was telling the truth, and hopefully he did actually find some time to check on Lee before Wednesday night's game.

At the very least, he needs to be a little more conscious about where cameras are placed and maybe keep some thoughts to himself.

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