KC s Ventura and Oriole s Machado Suspended for Multiple Games After Brawl

Major League Baseball authorities have suspended Kansas City Royals pitcher Yordano Ventura for 9 games and Orioles third baseman Manny Machado for 4 games in the aftermath of the bench-clearing brawl that occurred in the fifth inning of a game in Baltimore on June 7^th.

The Baltimore Orioles went on to win that game 9 to 1 over the Royals.

In the fifth inning of that game, Royals pitcher Ventura hit Machado, who was at-bat, in his lower left back and hip area with a 99-MPH fastball.  At an earlier at-bat in the same game, Ventura almost Machado in the face with another fastball.

Machado took exception to the second incident and charged at Ventura on the mound. Machado hit Ventura in the face before the cleared benches overran the field.

Both players have appealed the decisions and will continue to play on until their respective decisions are ultimately resolved.

This is not the first suspension for Orioles third baseman Manny Machado.

Machado was suspended for 5 games, and served the full suspension, for throwing a bat during an incident at an Oakland A’s game in 2015.

The Kansas City Royals were ultimately swept by the Orioles in the 3-game series. The Royals had previously lost 4 games in a row against the Cleveland Indians before the Orioles series.

The Kansas City Royals have, since being swept by the Orioles and Indians, recently lost 7 games in a row. They also lost 5 games in a row earlier during the start of the 2016 season.

The Kansas City Royals hope to reverse their luck as they start a new series of games against the Chicago White Sox in Kansas City on June 10, 2016.

A. A. Francis