White Sox, Royals brawlers suspended

Four members of the Kansas City Royals and three from the Chicago White Sox were punished for their roles in a series-opening brawl in Chicago, and six of the players drew suspensions. Baseball placed the blame on both teams.

Royals pitcher Yordano Ventura was handed a seven-game suspension, fellow starter Edinson Volquez given five games and outfielder Lorenzo Cain and reliever Kelvin Herrera got two games apiece. White Sox pitchers Chris Sale and Jeff Samardzija were suspended five games each, while catcher Tyler Flowers escaped suspension but was given an undisclosed fine.

All the players who received suspensions are appealing, which means they will be able to play in Sunday’s series finale.

“Everybody had some elements of their behavior over the course of that incident on both sides that they wish they handled differently,” White Sox general manager Rick Hahn said. “It is something that happens from time to time. It’s part of the game.”

It’s a costly part of the game, though. Along with the suspensions, Hahn said reliever Matt Albers fractured a finger on his throwing hand in the melee and will go on the disabled list.

Blue Jays

Toronto made history by putting three Canadianborn position players in the starting lineup. The Blue Jays started catcher Russell Martin and outfielders Michael Saunders and Dalton Pompey against Tampa Bay.

Athletics

Oakland placed infielder/ outfielder Ben Zobrist on the 15-day disabled list with torn cartilage in his left knee.

Reds

Steady rain prompted the Reds to postpone their game against the Chicago Cubs on Saturday, disappointing a big crowd that had bought tickets to see a reunion of Cincinnati’s 1990 championship team. The teams waited 4 hours, 13 minutes before it was called off.

White Sox

Chicago and Kansas City lost two games because of rain, the completion of a suspended game and Saturday’s regular game. The teams will resume their suspended game at 1:10 p.m. today, followed by their regular game.

Elsewhere

Jim Fanning, the longtime Montreal Expos executive who managed the franchise to its only playoff appearance, has died. He was 87.