One day after five players were struck by pitches in a tense matchup that led to heated exchanges and a benches-clearing standoff between the Seattle Mariners and Detroit Tigers, Major League Baseball handed Mariners reliever a three-game suspension for intentionally hitting Tigers infielder Gleyber Torres.
Speier has appealed the discipline announced by the league on Thursday, allowing him to remain on Seattle’s active roster until a final decision is reached.
Mariners manager Dan Wilson also received a one-game suspension in the aftermath of Wednesday night’s incident. Wilson will serve his suspension Thursday, when the Mariners and Tigers conclude their series in Seattle.
Both Speier and Wilson were ejected in the eighth inning Wednesday after Speier hit Torres — the fourth Tiger to be plunked.
Before Speier hit Torres, cameras caught an exchange between Torres and Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh, who was tagged the inning before by Tigers pitcher Emmanuel De Jesus.
“When they hit me, I just tried to tell him, ‘De Jesus hit you with two strikes. It wasn’t on purpose,’” said Torres, who had to be separated from Raleigh after the hit-by-pitch. “I don’t try to fight with nobody. I’m not that type of guy.”
The teams had some bad blood brewing from an incident in April, when the Mariners’ Josh Naylor was plunked in response to what the Tigers saw as Naylor intentionally running into first baseman Kevin McGonigle and also tossing his sliding mitt at catcher Dillon Dingler. Later, Naylor also made a hard slide into second base.
