"Rather than flee a flash fire, Cincinnati Reds second baseman Brandon Phillips on Tuesday refused to budge on harsh comments he made about the visiting Cardinals prior to the teams' three-game series at Great American Ball Park.

The Cardinals, termed "little bitches, all of them" by the All-Star infielder Monday, suggested they consider the source.

"The comments I made yesterday, those are my comments," Phillips said. "I said those things and I really mean what I said. The Cardinals, they're a great team. They're the team to beat, like I've said a million times. But we have to beat them."

Phillips made his comments several hours before a fracas erupted at home plate as Phillips led off the bottom of the first inning. Phillips tapped catcher Yadier Molina's shin guards, Molina offered a verbal retort and matters quickly escalated. Both benches emptied and a scrum moved to the backstop, where at one point ex-teammates Scott Rolen and Chris Carpenter paired off during a 7-minute delay.

Phillips set the tone Monday by publicly challenging the defending NL Central champions.

"I'd play against these guys on one leg," Phillips told a Dayton Daily News columnist "We have to beat these guys. All they do is bitch and moan about everything, all of them. They're little bitches, all of them. I really hate the Cardinals. Compared to the Cardinals, I love the Chicago Cubs. Let me make this clear: I hate the Cardinals."

Prior to the game the Cardinals made clear their disapproval without escalating the drama.

"It doesn't matter," Carpenter said. "Like I said, I don't think anyone in here cares about what Brandon Phillips says about us."

"If Scott Rolen said something about me, I'd take it a little bit harder," said center fielder Skip Schumaker, one of Rolen's former Cardinals teammates.

First baseman Albert Pujols adopted a hands-off approach before the game, insisting, "It's a free country. You're allowed to say whatever you want."

Carpenter noted Phillips' use of the term 'hate' after he beat the Reds for the ninth time in his last nine starts against them. "If he wants to hate us, he can hate us. I really don't care," Carpenter said before Tuesday's game. "It's not going to hurt me either way. We compete the way we compete. We play the way we play.""