SAN FRANCISCO — Giants reliever Hunter Strickland received a six-game suspension Tuesday and Washington’s Bryce Harper was penalized four games for their roles in a benches-clearing brawl at AT&T Park a day earlier.
Each also was fined an undisclosed amount, Major League Baseball announced Tuesday. MLB said both players planned to appeal, so the suspensions weren’t to begin with Tuesday night’s game between the clubs. Baseball Senior Vice President Joe Garagiola Jr. typically hears player appeals.
Strickland hit Harper in the hip with a pitch in the eighth inning and Harper charged the mound, wildly firing his helmet and trading punches to the head with Strickland during the Nationals’ 3-0 win Monday over San Francisco.
MLB Chief Baseball Officer Joe Torre’s explanation of the disciplinary decisions said that Strickland had intentionally hit “Harper with a pitch, inciting the bench-clearing incident and fighting” while Harper’s suspension came “for charging the mound, throwing his helmet and fighting.”
The two players’ bad blood stems from a pair of home runs Harper hit off Strickland in the 2014 playoffs, when the Giants went on to capture their third World Series championship in five years.
MARLINS: Jeb Bush has dropped out of the race for buying the team.
Bush is no longer interested in buying the Marlins and has ended his pursuit of the team, two people close to the negotiations said.
One of the people said former New York Yankees captain Derek Jeter, who had been part of Bush’s group, is still exploring a bid with other investors.
Jeter becomes the frontman for an investment group competing with a group led by businessman Tagg Romney, son of former Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney.
WHITE SOX: Cuban prospect Luis Robert’s signing bonus will be spread out over three years.
Chicago finalized a minor league contract with the 19-year-old outfielder on Saturday.
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