CHICAGO -- Michael Barrett called it a clean play. So did Chicago Cubs manager Dusty Baker. Rookie pitcher Rich Hill didn't think so. A.J. Pierzynski said Barrett took a "cheap shot." And there was a chokehold, too.

Barrett and Pierzynski collided at home plate in the second inning Saturday of the Cubs' 7-0 loss to the Chicago White Sox, sparking a bench-clearing fight and four ejections.

The White Sox had the bases loaded with one out against Hill in a scoreless game in front of 39,387 at U.S. Cellular Field. Brian Anderson flew out to left, and Pierzynski ran home. He barreled into Barrett at the plate, and both fell over. Pierzynski then slapped the plate with his hand. Pierzynski got up and was walking towards Barrett, who grabbed the White Sox catcher and delivered a right punch to his face. Both benches emptied.

Barrett's take on the play?

"I came out and blocked the plate," Barrett said. "[Pierzynski] had every right to hit me -- every right. He made a great play in taking me out before the ball could get to me. I was really trying to protect the plate.

"As soon as I got knocked down, I fell back, a little startled at first. I didn't see him hit the plate [with his hand]. All I know is, when I got up and gained some kind of consciousness, he's walking towards me and he bumps into me, and at that point, I just reacted. I reacted in a way ... I wish I would've pushed him away from me. Unfortunately, what's done is done."

Said Pierzynski, "I'm sorry it happened. But at the same time, I think it was a cheap shot."

Barrett said he didn't hear Pierzynski say anything, but he may have said something to the White Sox catcher.

"It's one of those plays -- bang, bang -- things happen so quick," Barrett said. "All I know is, as I'm laying down, he's walking toward me and he sort of barely nudges me, and I don't know what is going on."

Barrett retaliated with a punch, and one that will likely cost the Cubs their No. 1 catcher for a few games after the umpires file a report with Major League Baseball.

"From my vantage point, I saw a clean play by A.J.," Baker said. "That's how you play the game. The play was behind him. I didn't see anything with what he did. By that time, everybody was out there. I asked Michael, and he said, 'Hey, man, he was coming at me a second time,' and he didn't know what was going to happen."

Scott Podsednik, who was in the on-deck circle when Pierzynski scored, grabbed Barrett and tackled him to the ground and put a chokehold on the Cubs catcher. Jacque Jones tried to pull Podsednik off Barrett.

"I saw a guy choking our catcher, so I snatched him off my catcher," Jones said. "Whatever happens, that's between those two guys [Barrett and Pierzynski]."

After a nearly 15-minute delay, the umpires ejected Barrett, John Mabry, Anderson and Pierzynski. Crew chief Charlie Reliford and staff declined to comment after the game.

Jones said he's never been part of a fight like Saturday's.

"I don't remember a full-out free-for-all," Jones said. "I've been part of some 'Get off the bench [and] say a couple words' [type of events], but not anybody sticking it to other guys. I've never been part of that."

Barrett has been in the middle of melees before. In August 2004, he got into a jawing match with Houston pitcher Roy Oswalt at the plate, upset that Oswalt had hit one of his teammates with a pitch five days earlier.

On May 12 at Wrigley Field, Barrett exchanged a few words with Dave Roberts, upset that the San Diego leadoff hitter had run at will in a blowout by the Padres.

"In my opinion, I'm a grown man, and I take care of things the way I feel they need to be taken care of," Barrett said. "They're not always the best decisions. When you hit a grown man, it's never right."

But because Barrett didn't have the ball, why didn't Pierzynski slide instead of running full-steam into the Cubs catcher?

"I think it was pretty gutless over there on their part, him hitting Michael when he didn't have the ball," Hill said. "That's not how you play the game. If he had the ball and he hits him, it's a clean hit. That's fine. Thats how you play it. You don't go around just running over catchers. What if he injured him, and he didn't have the ball? That's not how you play the game."

Hill was backing up the play at home, and as soon as he turned around, he saw the White Sox players running toward him from the dugout.

"Everything happened so fast," Hill said. "You try to find somebody to hold back. You want to just break it up. At the same time, you don't play the game like that. It wasn't a very good move on their part -- I shouldn't say the whole team. Don't throw the whole team under the bus."

Baker said he expected the umpires to warn both teams before Sunday's game, but he did not anticipate any retaliation. Cubs pitcher Carlos Zambrano, who will start, would not comment on the incident.

Was Barrett wrong in going after Pierzynski?

"I can't say he was in the wrong," Baker said. "If somebody's coming toward me in a bang-bang play like that, there's a possibility I'm going to see possible aggression. I don't know if A.J. saw it the same way or not. There's usually two sides to the story."

Barrett knows he'll be punished.

"Obviously, there are kids watching and you don't like for those things to happen, but they happen," he said. "I expect to be disciplined, and that's part of the price for doing it."