Athletics’ Laureano suspended six games for brawl; Astros’ Cintron gets 20

Aug. 11 (UPI) — Major League Baseball has suspended Oakland Athletics outfielder Ramon Laureano six games and Houston Astros hitting coach Alex Cintron 20 games for their roles in Sunday’s benches-clearing incident, the league announced Tuesday.

MLB said Laureano, who also received an undisclosed fine, has appealed the six-game ban. Cintron — also given an undisclosed fine — can’t appeal, so his suspension begins immediately.

Cintron and Laureano got involved in a shouting match after Laureano was hit by a pitch for the third time in the series and second time in Sunday’s matchup against the Astros. Cintron — standing in the first-base dugout — exchanged words and gestured at Laureano, who then charged the dugout and was tackled by Astros catcher Dustin Garneau.

Both benches cleared, and Laureano and A’s catcher Austin Allen were eventually ejected.

Laureano wasn’t happy with the Astros after he got hit by a pitch pic.twitter.com/ysiXICstKb— A’s on NBCS (@NBCSAthletics) August 9, 2020

Following the game, Laureano said Cintron directed an expletive at him, which he returned. Then, Laureano told ESPN, Cintron “said in Spanish something you don’t say about my mother.”

In a statement released Tuesday, Cintron said he accepted MLB’s suspension but denied saying anything about Laureano’s mother.

“I accept MLB’s suspension and will learn from this,” Cintron said. “Although I never referenced Ramon’s mother, my actions were inappropriate. I apologize for my part in Sunday’s unfortunate incident.

“As coaches, we are held to a higher standard and should be an example to the players. Hopefully, other coaches will learn from my mistake so that this never happens again in the future.”

The last time a player or coach was handed a 20-game suspension for an on-field action came in June 2005, when pitcher Kenny Rogers was suspended 20 games after a physical confrontation with two cameramen.