Yahoo Finance Angels pitcher and manager suspended after retaliatory plunking of Jake Marisnick
Major League Baseball has stepped into the escalating beef between the Los Angeles Angels and Houston Astros, slapping Angels pitcher Noé Ramirez with a three-game suspension and Angels manager Brad Ausmus with a one-game suspension.
On Tuesday night, Ramirez threw near the head of Houston Astros outfielder Jake Marisnick, who has been in the spotlight since his pre-All-Star Game collision with Angels catcher Jonathan Lucroy. Lucroy suffered a concussion and a broken nose in the collision.
If you thought the ill will had gone away in the 10 days since the incident, it apparently had not. Ramirez hit Marisnick with a pitch, which infuriated the Astros and led to the benches clearing.
The Angels might not be thrilled with this news, since Marisnick only got a two-game suspension for the collision with Lucroy. The Astros, on the other hand, were calling for the league to take action.
After Tuesday’s game, manager A.J. Hinch insisted the Angels got a “free shot” at Marisnick and said no punishment for Ramirez would send a message from the league.
“They got a free shot at him with no warning, with no ejection,” Hinch told the Associated Press. “We’ll see if there’s discipline, and without discipline there’s not going to be any issue doing it the next time.”
“I feel bad for players nowadays,” he said. “There's a lot of gray area in what to do. Sometimes you can run over catchers. Sometimes you can't. Sometimes you can slide into second, but their guy can slide three feet out the base today and nothing happened to him. Sometimes you can retaliate, like tonight, they're going to get away with it, unless he gets suspended."
Ausmus’ suspension will be in effect for Wednesday’s game. Ramirez has elected to appeal his suspension and will continue to play until his suspension is heard.
The two teams meet again Wednesday night in Anaheim.
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Mike Oz is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at mikeozstew@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @mikeoz
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