Reality check: Pham barred 3 games for fantasy slap
Reds outfielder Tommy Pham was suspended by Major League Baseball for three games on Saturday after he slapped Giants outfielder Joc Pederson because of a dispute about their fantasy football league.
Pham, 34, also was fined. The suspension was made retroactive to Friday night, and he will serve the final two games this weekend.
While the Giants warmed up in the outfield before the series opener Friday, Pham confronted Pederson and smacked him in the face before the pair was separated.
Pham said Saturday there was some “sketchy” stuff going on with the fantasy league, and Pederson made “disrespectful” comments about his former team, the Padres.
“We had too much money on the line, so I look at it like there’s a code,” Pham said.
Pham also said Pederson was “messing with my money.”
Pederson said that he was accused of cheating for placing a player on injured reserve and replacing him with a free agent in a fantasy football league. Pederson said the player he put on IR had been ruled out for that week, which made it a legal move. He said Pham had executed essentially the same maneuver with his own team.
“I sent a screenshot of the rules, how it says that if a player’s ruled out, you’re allowed to put him on the IR and that’s all I was doing,” Pederson said. “He literally did the same thing. That was basically all of it.”
Cardinals 8, Brewers 3
Nolan Gorman hit his first major-league homer, Matthew Liberatore earned his first major-league win, and Paul Goldschmidt extended his hitting streak to 19 games to lead the host Cardinals.
Gorman, called up on May 20, was mired in an 0-for-11 slump before totalling four hits, four RBI and three runs. Gorman’s 449-foot homer cleared the bullpen in right field in the first. With an exit velocity of 110.6 mph off the bat, it was the longest home run in Busch Stadium this season.
Liberatore was called up on May 23 and was making his second start. The two rookies have been friends since playing T-ball together in the Phoenix suburbs.
Goldschmidt had three hits and four RBI. He increased his RBI total to 40, including 30 in May, the first Cardinals to have 30 RBI in any month since Carlos Beltran in 2012. His hitting streak is the longest for the team since David Freese had a 20-gamer in 2013.
In other action
Nathan Eovaldi threw his first career complete game — in his 211th start — to lead the host Red Sox to a 5-1 victory against the visiting Orioles in the first game of a doubleheader.
† Marcus Semien, who signed a seven-year, $175 million deal in the offseason hit his first homer of the year (in his 174th at-bat), a grand slam, to lead the visiting Rangers to an 11-4 victory against the Athletics.
† Mookie Betts hit his 32nd career leadoff home run and Trea Turner extended his hitting streak to 20 games in the visiting Dodgers’ 3-2 victory against the Diamondbacks. The Dodgers are 27-5 when Betts scores a run.
† The Braves called up top prospect Michael Harris from Double-A Mississippi, and he singled in his first at-bat, but the Braves lost 4-1 to the visiting Marlins.
DeGrom improving
Mets ace Jacob deGrom says his injured right shoulder blade feels “completely normal,” and he’s waiting for New York’s medical staff to clear him to resume throwing off a mound. DeGrom has been sidelined since late in spring training with a stress reaction in his scapula. The two-time NL Cy Young Award winner played catch Friday out to 135 feet, but he’s still not sure when he’ll throw his first bullpen or be ready for game action.