Royals, White Sox punished

The Kansas City Royals and Chicago White Sox each lost Saturday without playing a game.

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

Royals pitcher Yordano Ventura was handed a seven-game suspension, fellow starter Edinson Volquez was 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, and catcher Tyler Flowers escaped suspension but joined the others in getting an undisclosed fine.

All the players who received suspensions are appealing, which means they will be able to play in Sunday’s series finale. The game scheduled for Saturday was rained out.

Along with the suspensions, White Sox reliever Matt Albers fractured a finger on his throwing hand in the melee and will go on the disabled list.

Herrera is already awaiting an appeal on a five-game suspension that was handed down after he threw a pitch behind A’s third baseman Brett Lawrie during a series last weekend. Ventura was fined for hitting Lawrie with a 99 mph fastball during the same series.

Briefly: Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina sat out Saturday night’s game against the Brewers, a day after being struck on the right knee guard by a foul tip. Manager Mike Matheny says there would be no roster move. “We’re still hopeful that we’re talking a day or so. We’ll adjust as we need to,” he said. ... The Red Sox placed outfielder Shane Victorino (right hamstring strain) on the 15-day disabled list. ... The Blue Jays released left-hander Ricky Romero, 30, a former All-Star who has been slowed by knee injuries for several seasons.