GOODYEAR, Ariz. -- Cincinnati Reds outfielder Jonny Gomes said Thursday that he has "reached out" to the St. Louis Cardinals to squash any potential hard feelings over a report that he was singing and celebrating in response to news of St. Louis pitcher Adam Wainwright's elbow injury.

Gomes strongly denied the report and said he hopes to speak personally with Wainwright, who is scheduled to undergo Tommy John surgery and will miss the entire 2011 season.

"The guy is a good old Christian boy," Gomes told ESPN.com from Cincinnati's spring camp. "He's the guy that you root for as a fan and as a player. He did all his work in the minor leagues, grabbed the ball as a closer and converted to a starter. He's the guy every kid should mirror.

"The hardest part was facing my friends and family. They're questioning me like, 'What's wrong with you? You're not that type of person.' I walked through the door and my wife questioned me right out of the gate. She was like, 'What's your deal already?' "

A Dayton Daily News report said Gomes walked into the Reds clubhouse and "joyously" sang "Wainwright's gone" several times in response to news of the St. Louis starter's injury.

Gomes, who initially learned of Wainwright's injury in a satellite radio interview with Rob Dibble, said he was told that Wainwright had returned to St. Louis to have his elbow examined, but was unaware of the extent of the injury.

According to Gomes and several onlookers, the outfielder was singing the lyrics to the song "You're the Best Around" from the movie "Karate Kid" during a light-hearted exchange with the team's video coordinator early Wednesday morning. Gomes said that he asked "Is Wainwright gone?" in the middle of the routine, but not in an attempt to celebrate or gloat over Wainwright's injury.

"The hardest part of my night was, 'How do I clean this up without backtracking, because I didn't do anything wrong,' " Gomes said. "I was just accused of doing something I never did. I'm not like, 'I shouldn't have said that,' or, 'I wish I would have said that behind closed doors.' I didn't do anything wrong. Flat out.

"I don't need to play the villain in any movie. I have a [Fred Hutchinson] Award at home. I have two Heart and Hustle Awards. I don't have any villain awards at all. I've never had anything bad written about me my whole career coming up. Then all of a sudden I go home last night, and the blogs were on fire."

Dayton Daily News reporter Hal McCoy, who wrote the story in question, posted a follow-up blog item in which he explained his reasons for removing the controversial opening paragraph from the piece.

McCoy expressed his regrets over the incident to ESPN.com.