Astros coach gets 20 games for brawl

OAKLAND » Houston Astros hitting coach Álex Cintrón received a 20game suspension and a fine Tuesday for his role in a benches-clearing brawl at Oakland, while Athletics outfielder Ramon Laureano was given a six-game suspension and a fine.

Cintrón’s suspension is the longest for an on-field transgression in 15 years, since Texas pitcher Kenny Rogers received 20 games for his altercation with two cameramen in 2005.

“I accept MLB’s suspension and will learn from this,” Cintrón said in a statement. “Although I never referenced Ramon’s mother, my actions were inappropriate. I apologize for my part in Sunday’s unfortunate incident. As coaches, we are held to a higher standard and should be an example to the players. Hopefully, other coaches will learn from my mistake so that this never happens again in the future.”

Laureano appealed, so his discipline won’t begin Tuesday night against the Angels, Major League Baseball said.

Laureano was hit by

Colorado Los Angeles San Diego Arizona Giants

Tuesday’s games W

11 11 10 7 7 5 6 7 10 11

Miami at Toronto Kansas City at Cincinnati Atlanta at N.Y. Yankees Baltimore at Philadelphia Chicago Cubs at Cleveland Washington at N.Y. Mets Minnesota at Milwaukee Pittsburgh at St. Louis, ppd. Arizona at Colorado Giants at Houston

San Diego at L.A. Dodgers

L Pct

.688 .647 .588 .412 .389

GB

_ 1⁄2 1 1⁄2 4 1⁄2 5 a pitch from Humberto Castellanos with one out in the seventh inning of Oakland’s 7-2 victory Sunday. He began exchanging words with a gesturing Cintrón then left first base, threw down his batting helmet and began sprinting toward the 41-year-old Cintrón.

Astros catcher Dustin Garneau tackled Laureano before the A’s outfielder got to the hitting coach.

Laureano is a former Astros player and the rival clubs have been the top two in the AL West the past two years. A’s pitcher Mike Fiers, another former Houston player, revealed the Astros’ signstealing scandal in November to The Athletic.

Laureano was hit for the third time in the weekend series swept by Oakland — the fifth time the A’s were hit in all while the Astros didn’t get plunked once — and he pointed at Castellanos.

Players rushed out of both dugouts. Laureano was ejected by plate umpire Ted Barrett, and the umpiring crew could easily be heard yelling at the players to “get back to the dugout!” through a ballpark with no fans.

Wednesday’s games

Pittsburgh (TBD) at St. Louis (TBD), ppd. Arizona (Weaver 0-3) at Colorado (Senzatela 3-0), 3:10 p.m.

Chicago Cubs (Hendricks 2-1) at Cleveland (Carrasco 2-1), 6:10 p.m. Miami (Yamamoto 0-0) at Toronto (Pearson 0-0), 6:37 p.m.

Kansas City (Keller 1-0) at Cincinnati (Miley 0-1), 6:40 p.m.

Atlanta (Wright 0-2) at N.Y. Yankees (Tanaka 0-0), 7:05 p.m. Baltimore (LeBlanc 1-0) at Philadelphia (Eflin 0-0), 7:05 p.m. Minnesota (Maeda 2-0) at Milwaukee (Lauer 0-1), 7:10 p.m.

Giants (TBD) at Houston (Greinke 0-0), 7:10 p.m.

Washington (Sanchez 0-2) at N.Y. Mets (TBD), 7:10 p.m.

San Diego (Davies 2-1) at L.A. Dodgers (Urias 1-0), 9:40 p.m.