Washington Nationals reliever Jorge López has been suspended three games for “intentionally throwing at Andrew McCutchen of the Pittsburgh Pirates” during Wednesday night’s game, MLB announced Thursday morning. Nationals manager Dave Martinez has also been suspended one game. López and Martinez were both fined as well.
The incident occured in the seventh inning of Wednesday’s game. With the Pirates leading 2-0, López hit Bryan Reynolds in the side with a 93 mph fastball. McCutchen, the next batter, then had to dive out of the way of a 92 mph fastball that sailed up at his head. The benches emptied (no punches were thrown) and López was ejected from the game.
“I’ve been trying to find my way with my delivery,” López said after the game (via MASN). “I tried to find my way through the whole season. And it’s really miserable that happened. I regret what just happened.”
Oneil Cruz hit a grand slam off righty Eduardo Salazar later in that seventh inning to break the game open. Three of the four runs were charged to López, who retired two of the six batters he faced and allowed four runs overall.
“You clearly see everybody’s got each other’s backs,” Pirates catcher Henry Davis said about the incident (via MLB.com). “We’re playing for each other. You love the guys in the clubhouse. You love coming to the field every day knowing that we all got each other’s backs, especially when it’s Cutch out there.”
López has a history of letting his emotions get away from him on the field. With the New York Mets last season, López was ejected from a game for arguing with the third base umpire about a check swing call after giving up a home run, and tossed his glove into the crowd as he walked off the field. The Mets released López one day later.
Wednesday’s incident occurred one day after Nationals infielder Paul DeJong suffered a broken nose when he was hit in a face by a pitch from Pirates righty Mitch Keller. DeJong was placed on the injured list before Wednesday’s game. Neither team seemed to believe López’s actions Wednesday were in retaliation for Keller hitting DeJong.
López is appealing his suspension and is eligible to play until the appeal is heard. Martinez will serve his suspension Thursday. Managers receive an automatic one-game suspension when one of their pitchers is deemed to have thrown at a hitter intentionally.
The Pirates went on to win Wednesday’s game 6-1 (box score). They are 7-12 and in last place in the NL Central. The Nationals are in fourth place in the NL East at 7-11.
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