Blue Jays manager, pitcher handed suspensions for dustup with Royals
Two days after a near brawl between the Toronto Blue Jays and Kansas City Royals, Major League Baseball announced suspensions for two Blue Jays at the center of it.
Blue Jays manager John Gibbons was suspended one game for returning to the field following an ejection. Pitcher Aaron Sanchez was suspended three games for what MLB ruled was “intentionally throwing a pitch” at Royals shortstop Alcides Escobar.
.@BlueJays RHP Aaron Sanchez receives 3-game suspension, undisclosed fine for Sunday’s incident; manager John Gibbons suspended one game.
— MLB (@MLB) August 4, 2015
The Blue Jays have already announced that Sanchez will appeal his suspension. And for good reason. Sanchez hit Escobar on the knee in the eighth inning of Toronto’s 5-2 win which caused both dugouts to empty. Sanchez was immediately ejected but claimed innocence, which seems believable given the Blue Jays were only leading 3-2 at the time. It’s hard to imagine the Blue Jays’ pitcher would intentionally put the tying run on base, but that’s what MLB has decided happened.
Baseball logic aside, working against Sanchez’s innocence defense is the fact that the pitch very well could have been retribution for earlier incidents in the heated game. Blue Jays slugger Josh Donaldson was hit by a pitch by Edinson Volquez in the first inning and got two more pitches up-and-in during his next at-bats. Warnings were issued by home-plate umpire Jim Wolf but in the seventh Troy Tulowitzki was hit on the wrist, and Donaldson was buzzed with a pitch. Gibbons was ejected after arguing that Royals pitcher Ryan Madson should have been ejected for both incidents. Gibbons very clearly returned to the field when the benches cleared an inning later.
[ELSEWHERE: Yep, the Mets are back in sole possession of first place.]
The feud continued in post-game interviews and even in barbs on Twitter. Gibbons will serve his suspension on Tuesday night when the Blue Jays face the Twins. He is the first Blue Jays manager to be suspended since Carlos Tosca in 2003.
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Ian Denomme is an editor and writer for Yahoo Sports. Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter.
