NEW YORK, NY - SEPTEMBER 08: Tyler Austin #26 of the New York Yankees follows through on his ninth inning game winning home run against the Tampa Bay Rays at Yankee Stadium on September 8, 2016 in the Bronx borough of New York City. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)
The Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees got into a massive, benches-clearing fight on Wednesday, and one player on each team has received suspensions for the incident.
Yankees first baseman Tyler Austin was banned for five games and Red Sox pitcher Joe Kelly was suspended six contests for brawling in the seventh inning of New York’s 10-7 victory at Fenway Park.
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Austin’s punishment was for “charging the mound and fighting,” while Kelly’s ban was for “intentionally hitting Austin with a pitch and fighting.” Joe Torre, MLB’s chief baseball officer, dealt the suspensions.
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Both players will try to appeal their bans, according to the Boston Herald.
The league also reportedly fined New York’s third base coach Phil Nevin and Red Sox manager Alex Cora. Yankees manager Aaron Boone denounced Nevin’s actions, which included yelling at the opposing team’s dugout. Cora said he could not tell if Nevins was yelling at him or at someone else.
Kelly claimed that his 98-mph pitch that hit Austin was accidental, though some believe it may have been a way of retaliating for a rough slide the Bombers designated hitter made earlier in Wednesday’s game. The slide ended with Austin’s cleat spikes digging into Boston shortstop Brock Holt.
“It’s a pitch that got away on a cold night,” Kelly told the Herald. “Not like I had perfect command. It’s not like I have Greg Maddux command. We’ll see what happens. I don’t think I should be suspended. It wasn’t a blowout game. We were still in that ballgame. We had a big rally the inning before.”
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Five players also received fines for going onto the field to engage in the brawl despite being on the disabled list: CC Sabathia, Dustin Pedroia, Marco Hernandez and Xander Bogaerts.
The Red Sox beat the Yankees 6-3 in Thursday’s three-game series finale at Fenway Park.
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