Suspension upheld for Strickland
San Francisco Giants pitcher Hunter Strickland began serving a six-game suspension Monday for brawling with Bryce Harper after his appeal was denied by John Mchale, Jr., a special assistant to baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred.
The penalty stemmed from a benches-clearing incident between the Giants and Washington Nationals on May 29.
Strickland plunked Harper on the right hip with a 98 mph fastball, igniting an eighth-inning fight that ended with Strickland being dragged to the Giants dugout by several teammates.
Harper was suspended for four games, which was reduced to three games after his appeal. He has already served the penalty.
MLB denied Strickland’s appeal, which means he’ll miss all four games of the series against the Braves as well as the first two games of a weekend series in San Francisco against the New York Mets.
■ Yankees: Top New York prospect Gleyber Torres has a torn ligament in his non-throwing elbow and will have Tommy John surgery that is expected to sideline him until spring training.
A 20-year-old infielder who was the top player in the Arizona Fall League last year, Torres was injured Saturday on a head-first slide into home plate for Triple-a Scranton at Buffalo.
New York said it expects him to recover in time for spring training.
Acquired from the Cubs last July in the trade that sent closer Aroldis Chapman to Chicago, Torres began the season at Double-a Trenton and hit .273 with five homers and 18 RBIS before he was promoted. He joined Scranton on May 23 and batted .309 with two homers and 16 RBIS.
■ Cincinnati: The Reds placed Bronson Arroyo on the 10-day disabled list with a strained right shoulder, one day after the 40-year-old right-hander said there is a possibility his career might be over.
Cincinnati also put shortstop Zack Cosart on the 10-day DL due to a strained right quadriceps.
Arroyo (3-6) gave up for five runs and seven hits in just three innings Sunday as the Reds lost 8-7 to the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Cosart is hitting .320 with nine homers and 33 RBIS in 58 games this season.
■ Red Sox: Boston second baseman Dustin Pedroia was out of the starting lineup for Monday’s series opener against the Royals after getting hit by a pitch in Houston that caused him to spit up blood.
Pedroia was hit in the left ribcage by a 92 mph fastball from James Hoyt in the seventh inning Sunday. He played two more innings in the field before leaving the game and getting X-rays that came back negative.
He had an MRI exam Monday that confirmed Pedroia did not fracture any ribs.
Red Sox manager John Farrell said Pedroia is day to day, but it’s unlikely he will play before the series finale Wednesday.
Pedroia is hitting .296 with two homers and 25 RBIS this season.
■ Indians: Cleveland placed outfielder Michael Brantley on the 10-day DL with a sprained right ankle.
Brantley injured the ankle earlier this month and aggravated it last week. So, upon returning from the paternity list Monday, he was moved to the DL.
Manager Terry Francona says Brantley hadn’t recovered from the injury sufficiently enough to rejoin the team.
Brantley played in 54 games this season and was batting.296 with 13 doubles, five home runs and 28 RBIS. He played in just 11 games in 2016.
■ Orioles: Baltimore shortstop J.J. Hardy is headed to the 10-day DL with a broken bone in his right wrist, an injury that will keep him sidelined four to six weeks.
Hardy was injured Sunday when hit by a pitch from Lance Lynn in the fourth inning of Baltimore’s 8-5 win over St. Louis.
Hardy remained in the game briefly, but left after realizing he could not swing a bat.
Though Hardy was batting only .211, he was on a 7-for-23 streak that added 10 points to his batting average.
The Associated Press