San Diego Padres reliever Robert Suarez was suspended for three games and fined an undisclosed amount Friday for intentionally hitting Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Dodgers with a pitch in the ninth inning Thursday night.
Suarez appealed the suspension that was scheduled to begin Friday night when the Padres faced Kansas City at home.
Padres manager Mike Shildt and Dodgers manager Dave Roberts also received one-game suspensions and undisclosed fines.
Ohtani took a pitch to the back of his right (pitching) shoulder from Suarez in the Padres’ 5-3 victory Thursday in Los Angeles. With Dodgers players starting to move over the dugout railing, Ohtani waved back his teammates.
A half-inning earlier, Fernando Tatis Jr. took a 93 mph fastball to the right hand from Dodgers rookie right-hander Jack Little. It marked the second time in a span of three days that Tatis and Ohtani had been hit by pitches almost immediately after each other.
“Well, I think he knew it was intentional,” Roberts said after Friday’s game. “He wasn’t hurt by it, and he didn’t want any more drama, which I respect that a lot.”
Benches clear after Padres’ Fernando Tatis gets hit with pitch by Dodgers’ Jack Little
Benches cleared in the Los Angeles Dodgers vs. San Diego Padres game after Fernando Tatis gets hit with pitch.
Padres slugger Manny Machado said his true feelings won’t be known until Tatis gets results from X-rays and a CT scan.
“They gotta pray for [results] to come back negative tomorrow,” Machado said. “They should. Us, too, but they should for sure.”
Roberts said he hoped Tatis does not miss extended time.
“I didn’t feel good about Tatis — great player, good guy — getting hit,” Roberts said. “I didn’t feel good about it. And so as [Shildt] comes out, and he’s yelling at me and staring me down, that bothers me. Because, to be quite frank, that’s the last thing I wanted.”
Shildt said he has respect for the Dodgers, but seeing Tatis get hit three times by their pitchers in less than two weeks doesn’t sit right. He has also been hit by the Dodgers six times in his career, the most by any club.
“Whether it was [intentional] or it wasn’t, enough is enough,” Shildt said. “We got a guy who’s getting X-rays right now, is one of the best players in the game, fortunately, he’s on our team, and this guy has taken shots, OK?”
Reporting by The Associated Press.
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