MAJOR League Baseball has given out reprimands following an on-field brawl between the San Francisco Giants and the Colorado Rockies on Tuesday.
A series of fines have been handed down, as well as a one-game suspension for Giants third baseman Matt Chapman.
A brawl erupted during Tuesday night’s Giants-Rockies game at Coors Field[/caption]
Matt Chapman, Willy Adames and Rafael Devers have all been handed punishments[/caption]
Chapman chose to appeal the suspension, and so was able to take the field on Wednesday for the final game of the series, a game he would otherwise have spent serving his punishment.
Tuesday’s chaos began when Rafael Devers swept a Kyle Freeland pitch into the stands for a two-run homer in the first inning of the second game of the series.
Devers took a moment too long to enjoy watching his ball fly over the wall, which Freeland took exception to, leading to a harsh exchange of words between the two.
The benches cleared as the pair continued to hurl insults, but the situation was ignited through the arrival of Chapman.
He charged into Freeland on the mound, prompting the pitcher to strike back and sparking a full-on brawl at Coors Field.
Rockies manager Warren Schaeffer backed his player following the incident.
He said: “[Devers] watched it for a while, longer than Kyle liked. Kyle took offense to it, felt disrespected. I back him 100% on that.
“He didn’t like it. Had to say a few words to him, went after him a little bit, benches cleared. Sometimes that stuff happens in baseball.
“In today’s game, a lot of people think let the kids play. But that kind of goes out the window when you have a competitor who takes offense to something happening, especially in his own ballpark.
“I back him. Hopefully it’s over with, but it’s a moment in time that I’m glad it’s done.”
Freeland, Chapman and Giants shortstop Willy Adames were all ejected during the scuffle.
Chapman, Adames and Devers were fined for the incident on top of Chapman’s suspension, caused by his escalation of a verbal exchange to a physical one.
Giants manager Bob Melvin was keen to move past the unsavoury scenes.
He said on Wednesday: “Look, we didn’t feel like we started it. It is what it is, just deal with it going forward. The other ones were fines, kind of expected probably.
“You knew something was going to happen. We were hoping there weren’t suspensions.
“Ended up being one, and it’s on appeal, so we’ll see where that goes.”
Chapman’s choice to appeal allowed him to play against the Rockies again on Wednesday, where he would prove to be the difference-maker as his club completed the sweep.
He hit a home run off German Marquez in the second inning to open the scoring, before his three-run hit in the sixth gave his side a 9-5 lead, which they built on to finish 10-8 victors.
Melvin said after the game: “The moment I talked to Matt, he wanted to play today regardless, so it was an easy call. And thank goodness he played.”
Time will tell how the appeal will affect the Giants as they continue their season with a series at the St Louis Cardinals starting Friday.
