MLB denies Strickland in bid to cut 6-game ban

ATLANTA — Hunter Strickland and the Giants finally got word on the relief pitcher’s appeal on his sixgame suspension: denied.

Major League Baseball upheld its original ruling Monday, and the suspension began immediately. Strickland will miss the four-game series in Atlanta, which started Monday night, and the first two games of the homestand against the Mets.

“You always hope for less for the team’s sake,” Strickland said. “Ultimately, that’s their decision. They hold the ball in their hand in that situation. I’ve just got to take the consequences and let this pass on and get ready to come back and play ball.”

Strickland and the Nationals’ Bryce Harper were suspended for their May 29 brawl at AT&T Park. Harper’s ban was four games. Like Strickland, he appealed. But Harper withdrew his appeal and accepted a one-game reduction.

Strickland’s appeal wasn’t heard until last Tuesday, and his actions were considered more severe than Harper’s by MLB, which suspended the pitcher for “intentionally hitting Harper with a pitch, inciting the bench-clearing incident and fighting.”

Asked whether it’s unfair that one person in a fight got his suspension reduced and the other didn’t, Strickland said, “I can’t really control any of that. Obviously, what happened happened, and I’ll take the consequences from there.”

Strickland can be in uniform pregame and participate in team workouts but must be out of uniform and away from the team by game time. He was planning to watch from his home, 45 minutes away, or at the team hotel. Briefly: The Giants wasted a prime first-inning opportunity to score after Denard Span doubled and Eduardo Nuñez, who returned after missing three games with hamstring tightness, hit an infield single. ... Brandon Belt hit what appeared to be a double in the second inning but was out for not being on the bag after his slide. The Giants called for a review, but it wasn’t overturned. Belt was also robbed twice on diving plays by Matt Kemp and Brandon Phillips. ... With the Braves pitching R.A. Dickey, Gorkys Hernandez started in left field over hot-hitting Austin Slater. Two reasons: Hernandez was 4-for-10 against knuckleballers, and Bruce Bochy didn’t want Slater to mess up his swing pursuing pitches that appear like butterflies.