Tigers’ Cabrera banned 7 games, Yanks’ Sanchez 4 for bench-clearing fight
Two of baseball’s biggest hitters were suspended Friday after taking some menacing swings with their fists.
Tigers first baseman Miguel Cabrera was banned seven games and Yankees catcher Gary Sanchez got barred four games for their actions in a fight-filled Thursday afternoon game in Detroit.
Major League Baseball handed out the penalties after the Yankees and Tigers got into three clashes during Detroit’s 10-6 victory.
Also suspended were Detroit reliever Alex Wilson (four games), New York catcher Austin Romine (two games) and Detroit manager Brad Ausmus (one game). All four players were appealing and remain eligible until the process is complete.
Sanchez, an All-Star on a powerful tear at the plate lately, was in the lineup for Friday night’s home game against Seattle, catching and batting third for the playoff contenders.
“It’s going to be four games that I’m not going to be able to help the team and I know they need me, so it’s not a good feeling,” he said through an interpreter.
New York began the day 4½ games behind first-place Boston in the AL East but leading the wild-card race.
Cabrera and Wilson also contested their penalties, keeping them available for Friday night’s game against the White Sox. Ausmus can still manage until Wilson’s situation is decided.
Detroit entered 55-71, far out of the playoff chase in the American League.
Cabrera, who squared off with Romine at home plate in the most furious fight of the day, was annoyed that 6-foot-7, 282-pound Yankees rookie Aaron Judge was not punished. The two-time AL MVP said Judge and Sanchez tried to hit him while he was on the ground.
“There was a lot of people going after me over there and I got a suspension,” Cabrera said in Chicago. “I’m not surprised. They’re MLB, they do whatever they want and they have to control this situation. But be fair. See the video, see the people who throw punches, see the people who were after me when I was on the floor. That’s it.”
Replays clearly showed Sanchez throwing punches at prone Tigers players who were down near the bottom of piles.
“Things got out of control pretty quickly there,” Sanchez said. “I have a really good relationship with Romine. In the moment of everything, instinct takes over. I went out there to defend my teammate, my team. Definitely the situation got out of control a little bit there, but at the end of it all, what you’re trying to do is you’re trying to go out there and protect your team.”
Yankees reliever Dellin Betances, ejected after hitting Tigers catcher James McCann in the helmet with a pitch, was not suspended or even fined. Detroit starter Michael Fulmer also avoided any punishment despite hitting Sanchez with a pitch after he homered off the right-hander.
The announcement was made by Joe Torre, the former Yankees manager who is now Chief Baseball Officer for MLB. In all, there were eight ejections in the game.
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