Basebrawl: Eight, including Garrett, draw bans for Reds-pirates skirmish
Pittsburgh pitcher Keone Kela was suspended for 10 games, wild-swinging Cincinnati reliever Amir Garrett for eight and Yasiel Puig for three after a furious brawl between the Pirates and Reds.
Major League Baseball issued eight suspensions Thursday, two days after the fight at Great American Ball Park. Three players on each team were suspended, and all elected to appeal.
Reds manager David Bell was suspended six games, starting Thursday. Pittsburgh manager Clint Hurdle was penalized two games, to begin Friday.
Garrett, a Findlay Prep product, was docked for “for inciting the bench-clearing incident by running to the area outside the Pirates’ dugout and throwing a punch.”
Puig was suspended for his aggressive actions on what turned out to be his last day with the Reds. The outfielder later was traded to Cleveland.
Pirates infielder Jose Osuna was suspended five games while Pittsburgh pitcher Kyle Crick and Reds pitcher Jared Hughes each got three.
Bell and the Reds became enraged after Kela threw near Derek Dietrich’s head in the late innings. These rivals have a history of runins that included a fracas in April at PNC Park that began after Dietrich stood at the plate to admire a home run.
“This comes down to, really, one of our guys, the ball was thrown at his head,” Bell said. “What were we supposed to do? If we don’t, I can’t live without doing anything to protect one of our guys.”
All of the suspended players were fined undisclosed amounts. Pirates pitcher Trevor Williams, Reds first baseman Joey Votto and Reds outfielder Phillip Ervin also were fined, as were several players on both teams for taking part in the brawl while on the injured list.
The Reds and Pirates next play on Aug. 23 at Pittsburgh — that game, incidentally, already was billed as fireworks night.
Outfielder Alex Dickerson (right oblique strain), batting .386 with six home runs and 23 RBIS in 30 games this season, was placed on the 10-day injured list, and left-handed reliever Sam Selman was recalled from Triple-a Sacramento. Selman, 28, an eight-year minor league veteran, has a 1.15 ERA and 78 strikeouts in 47 innings at Sacramento and Double-a Richmond this season.
Former reliever Danny Farquhar, who suffered a brain hemorrhage in the team’s dugout in April 2018, rejoined Chicago as a minor league pitching instructor. The 32-year-old will start Aug. 7 at Double-a Birmingham. Also, third baseman Yoan Moncada (right hamstring strain) was placed on the 10-day IL.
Manager Terry Francona was forced to miss Cleveland’s game Thursday after having what the team termed “unexpected” eye surgery earlier in the day. Francona, 60, is expected to return to the dugout Friday, the team said.
Closer Hector Neris dropped his appeal and began serving a three-game suspension for intentionally throwing a pitch at the Dodgers’ David Freese on July 16.
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