Major League Baseball has suspended Houston Astros pitcher Bryan Abreu for two games and fined him an undisclosed fine for what it said was intentionally throwing at the Texas Rangers’ Adolis Garcia during Game 5 of the American League Championship Series.
In a statement Saturday, the league said that all six of its umpires deemed Abreu’s pitch that hit Garcia to be intentional during the eighth inning Friday night in Arlington, Texas. Garcia, who had homered in his previous at-bat, Abreu and Astros manager Dusty Baker were ejected following a benches-clearing incident.
Michael Hill, MLB’s Senior Vice President of On-Field Operations, made the written announcement, which said the league took into account “the dangerous nature of the pitch and its potential impact on player safety.”
Unless appealed, Abreu’s suspension takes effect Sunday for Game 6 of the ALCS, with the Astros ahead in the best-of-seven series 3-2 after winning 5-4 on Friday. An appeal would delay the penalty until the process is completed.
Garcia and Baker were fined undisclosed amounts, as were pitcher Matt Bush of the Rangers and pitcher Lance McCullers Jr. of the Astros for their actions after benches and bullpens cleared. Bush and McCullers are prohibited from sitting on their respective benches for the remainder of the ALCS.
Abreu, 26, has a 1.42 ERA with 11 strikeouts and two walks in 6 1/3 innings over seven postseason games. The right-hander was 3-2 with a 1.75 ERA, five saves, 100 strikeouts and 31 walks in 72 innings over 72 appearances during the regular season.
Garcia — who put the Rangers ahead 4-2 with a three-run homer in the sixth inning and admired the 396-foot blast before spiking his bat upon starting his trot — was plunked when he batted in the eighth. With a runner on first and the Rangers still ahead by two, Abreu’s 98-mph fastball got Garcia on the arm.
“I don’t think anybody is mad about him pimping a homer — it was the biggest homer of his career, quite honestly,” Astros pitcher Justin Verlander, who surrendered the round-tripper, said Friday. “Obviously he thought something might happen, though, because it was a pretty quick reaction (after the hit by pitch).”
Garcia immediately turned and yelled at Astros catcher Martin Maldonado.
“I just reacted to the ball that came towards me,” Garcia said after the game. “It was something, in that situation, (Abreu) could have hurt me, he could have injured me. I just let (Maldonado) know that shouldn’t happen there.”
Abreu and Garcia were ejected after a lengthy delay, and the 74-year-old Baker followed suit after throwing his hat during an argument with umpires. He subsequently refused to leave his seat in the dugout before finally exiting.
“I can understand how he’d take exception to that — nobody likes to get hit,” Baker said afterward. “But you’re not going to add runs on in the (eighth) inning in the playoffs when we’re trying to win a game. How do you prove intent? That’s what I don’t understand.
“And I haven’t been that mad in a long time. And I don’t usually get mad about nothing. So I’m just glad that we won the game and it turned out right for us.”
–Field Level Media
