Yordano Ventura Suspended Seven Games For Brawl, Chris Sale And Jeff Samardzija Suspended Five Games
Yordano Ventura was suspended seven games for his role in a brawl on April 23. Ventura seemed to instigate the brawl between the Kansas City Royals and Chicago White Sox, leading to his hefty suspension. As reported by CBS Sports, three other Royals players received suspensions. Edinson Volquez received five games while Kelvin Herrera and Lorenzo Cain received two games each. The Chicago White Sox didn’t avoid suspensions either, as starting pitchers Chris Sale and Jeff Samardzija each received five-game bans.
Major League Baseball obviously wanted to send a statement with these punishments, issuing an additional fine to White Sox catcher Tyler Flower, but not suspending him for his actions. What might surprise some baseball fans is that White Sox outfielder Adam Eaton didn’t get suspended or fined, despite being one of the two players arguing on the field before the brawl began. It’s something that baseball analysts will have to wait until next week to debate.
The game itself took place back on April 23, with Yordano Ventura pitching for the Kansas City Royals. White Sox outfielder Adam Eaton hit the ball right back to Ventura, immediately yelling something when he made contact. Ventura yelled back at him while throwing him out at first base, and Eaton started moving toward the mound instead of his own dugout. The benches cleared and a huge fight broke out on the infield grass.
The end result of this brawl between the Royals and White Sox was that five players (Yordano Ventura, Edinson Volquez, Jeff Samardzija, Chris Sale, and Lorenzo Cain) all got ejected from the game. The game itself ended up going into extra innings, with the Royals pulling out an exciting 3-2 victory. That wasn’t the end of the story, though, as the league had to step in and put an end to the problem the players had just created.
As previously reported on the Inquisitr, the whole situation has created some bad press for MLB. The league has been trying hard to dissuade players from getting into fights on the field, and the long suspensions for several players are another effort in that direction. What might have also developed is a more intense rivalry between the Kansas City Royals and Chicago White Sox moving forward. As for the suspensions of players like Yordano Ventura, Chris Sale, and Jeff Samardzija, all three starting pitchers will likely have their next starts pushed back. It is a way for teams to get around the players being suspended, meaning they likely won’t miss a start this season.
[Image Source: Ed Zurga/Getty Images]
