Six players suspended following Royals-White Sox brawl
Major League Baseball worked overtime this weekend to hand down discipline following the wild brawl involving the Kansas City Royals and Chicago White Sox on Thursday.
In a press release issued Saturday morning, the league announced six players have been suspended for their role in the brawl. Kansas City Royals starter Yordano Ventura, who has been involved in multiple incidents already this season, got hit the hardest. He received a seven-game suspension for his role in escalating tensions after getting into a heated exchange with Chicago’s Adam Eaton.
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Edinson Volquez of the Royals, along with White Sox pitchers Chris Sale and Jeff Samardzija, each received five games. That essentially amounts to having one start pushed back. All three were right in the middle of the brawl. At one point, Samardzija clearly targeted Lorenzo Cain, which is when the brawl turned real ugly. It would be easy to argue Samardzija’s role was the most volatile.
It’s reported that Sale attempted to get into the Royals clubhouse after his ejection, while the game was still on-going. Sale refused to confirm or deny those reports on Friday.
In addition to those punishments, Lorenzo Cain and Kelvin Herrera of the Royals each received two games, which may actually be the most costly suspension for Kansas City considering their roles. Herrera is currently appealing a five-game suspension for throwing at Oakland’s Brett Lawrie last weekend.
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All of the suspended players also received an undisclosed fine from the league. White Sox catcher Tyler Flowers was also fined an undisclosed amount.
Adam Eaton, for what it’s worth, did not receive any punishment. It appeared he may have jawed at Ventura first on Thursday after taking exception to a quick pitch, but the league didn’t feel his role was significant enough.
On a related note, the White Sox also announced that relief pitcher Matt Albers is headed to the disabled list with a finger injury suffered during the brawl. In that regard, the brawl is going to prove more costly for Chicago in terms of games lost to the incident.
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Mark Townsend is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Townie813
