UPDATE: Sanchez has dropped his appeal for suspension.
Aaron Sanchez drops suspension appeal, begins serving three games tonight. #BlueJays
— Shi Davidi (@ShiDavidi) August 5, 2015
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It would be difficult to tell a majority of MLB teams that two wrongs don't make a right. Time and time again we see pitchers retaliate for whatever reason by plunking batters, and it happened over the weekend during the series between the Toronto Blue Jays and Kansas City Royals.
Blue Jays' manager John Gibbons was suspended for one game and relief pitcher Aaron Sanchez was suspended for three games and fined an undisclosed amount for their actions during Sunday's game against the Royals, according to Major League Baseball's Twitter account. The MLB also noted Sanchez will appeal his suspension.
Gibbons was ejected from the game in the seventh inning for arguing with the umpires after the Royals' relievers threw inside to Josh Donaldson (after he was plunked in the first inning) and beamed Troy Tulowitzki, but weren't tossed from the game. However, that wasn't why he was suspended.
The umpires during Sunday's game determined Sanchez intentionally threw at Royals' shortstop Alcides Escobar in the eighth inning and ejected the right-hander. It was deemed retaliation in response to Donaldson and Tulowitzki being hit earlier in the afternoon, which then caused Gibbons to come back onto the field (following his ejection) when the benches cleared after Sanchez beamed Escobar. That earned Gibbons a one-game suspension.
Players on each team got into a Twitter feud after the game and made headlines for their comments as well.
Check out the incident in the video below:
The MLB did not put the Royals at fault for this incident. Nobody on Kansas City was suspended for fined for their actions during Sunday's game, despite the team's feisty reputation this season. They were involved in previous plunking/benches-clearing incidents with the Los Angeles Angels, Chicago White Sox and Oakland Athletics.
Gibbons will serve his suspension tonight during the team's home game against the Minnesota Twins. Sanchez will be active until his case is settled with the league.
