Toronto Blue Jays right-hander Aaron Sanchez and manager John Gibbons both received suspensions from Major League Baseball resulting from Sunday's bench-clearing melee with the Kansas City Royals.
Sanchez is facing a three-game ban and an undisclosed fine for intentionally throwing a pitch at Royals shortstop Alcides Escobar, while Gibbons will be forced to sit out one contest for coming back onto the field following his seventh-inning ejection.
(Courtesy: MLB.com)
The Blue Jays plan to appeal Sanchez's suspension, according to Sportsnet's Shi Davidi.
Sanchez claimed he didn't intentionally throw at Escobar after the contest.
"Obviously, I know what the situation was ... my job is to get a clean inning, and obviously wasn't intentional," Sanchez said. "The last thing I'm trying to do is put a runner on in the top of the eighth and their top of the order coming up. If I was looking to send a message, I go after their big guys. I think that's crap."
Warnings were issued by home plate umpire Jim Wolf in the first inning after Royals right-hander Edinson Volquez hit Blue Jays third baseman Josh Donaldson with a pitch. Donaldson was pitched high and inside two more times later in the game, and Toronto shortstop Troy Tulowitzki was also hit in the wrist with a pitch before Sanchez plunked Escobar in the knee area, prompting the benches to clear.
"I don't know if anybody's ever tried to hit anyone with a changeup," general manager Alex Anthopoulos told reporters of Sanchez. "In the first inning when [Donaldson] got hit, if you've seen Edinson Volquez's comments, he talked about Josh and the game before, hitting the home runs and the reaction. You start putting two and two together. I would expect that there's intent there. But that's not for me to decide."
A war of words ensued following the contest between Volquez and Donaldson, while Blue Jays slugger Jose Bautista took exception to comments made by Royals skipper Ned Yost.