Major League Baseball announced Tuesday it suspended Texas Rangers second baseman Rougned Odor eight games for his part in a bench-clearing brawl Sunday, while Blue Jays outfielder Jose Bautista, among others, will receive a one-game suspension, per John Lott of Vice Sports:
Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports reported Odor will appeal. Bautista is planning to appeal his suspension as well, per Brendan Kennedy of the Toronto Star.
Blue Jays reliever Jesse Chavez will be suspended three games, while the league handed Rangers shortstop Elvis Andrus a one-game suspension for his role in the fight, according to Kennedy. Blue Jays first-base coach Tim Leiper was also suspended for being in the dugout after being ejected, per the official release.
According to Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports, Odor was also fined $5,000.
Blue Jays manager John Gibbons will also reportedly be suspended three games, per Kennedy. Lott reported DeMarlo Hale will manage the team in Gibbons’ absence.
“If he goes 3-0, we will switch jobs,” Gibbons said, per Lott. When asked what he planned to do Tuesday during the first game of his suspension, Gibbons told reporters, “Don’t know. Maybe I’ll watch the [Toronto] Raptors.”
Blue Jays third baseman Josh Donaldson reportedly will not be suspended but will be fined $1,000, per Bob Nightengale of USA Today.
Odor, 22, landed a right-handed punch to Bautista’s face after the All-Star slugger slid aggressively into second base in the eighth inning Sunday. The benches and bullpens subsequently emptied, and it took umpires several minutes to separate the teams.
“I was pretty surprised,” Bautista said of Odor’s punch, per ESPN.com. “I mean, obviously, that’s the only reason that he got me. And he got me pretty good, so I have to give him that. It takes a little bit bigger man to knock me down.”
Bautista took first base after Rangers reliever Matt Bush hit him with a pitch, and Bautista acknowledged to reporters after the game he slid into second base hard on purpose to “send a message.”
The Blue Jays likely thought Bush plunked Bautista in retaliation for his bat flip during their 2015 playoff series. He was not hit in the teams’ previous six games, and Gibbons said the Rangers waited until their final matchup of the regular season intentionally.
“It was ugly and unfortunate,” Gibbons said, per ESPN.com. “To me, it was gutless. The other 29 teams, they come at you right away, but to wait until the end, it just sort of tells you something. Everybody is going to say, ‘Oh, it was a one-run game. The ball got away.’ That ain’t going to fly.”
Chavez hit Prince Fielder with a pitch in the bottom of the inning, and the dugouts and bullpens emptied again.
Odor did not meet with media after the game. The second baseman is off to the best start of his young career with seven home runs and 21 RBI.
The brawl provided MLB with perhaps its most memorable moment of the season and stoked the fire of a budding rivalry.
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