Baltimore Orioles third baseman Manny Machado was suspended for five games and fined an unknown amount on Tuesday, for his actions in the series against the Oakland Athletics.
Machado threw his bat at third base during the eight inning of Sunday’s game against the Athletics. Athletics pitcher Fernando Abad threw two inside pitches to Machado and could have been trying to hit him. The bat-throwing incident wasn't the only incident for Machado. He hit Athletics catcher Derek Norris twice earlier in Sunday’s game, and on Friday he had a confrontation with Athletics third baseman Josh Donaldson, which caused the benches to clear, according to USA Today. The benches cleared again after the bat was thrown. Machado and Abad were ejected from the game after the bat was thrown, according to the Associated Press.
In its official release Major League Baseball said that Machado was suspended for “intentionally throwing his bat on the field."
“It was coming,” Machado told the Baltimore Sun. “We’re going to appeal it. I made my peace yesterday, and we’re going to move on from it. We’re going to go ahead and try to get that down."
He added, “Obviously, I don’t want to be down for five days. I need to try to help this team in any way. We’ve got a lot of tough games up in the road, and I need to be a part of this team. I’ve been a part of this team for a long time, and I don’t want to be down for too many days.”
Abad was also fined an undisclosed amount for the incident. Machado will appeal the suspension. However it’s unknown when the appeal will be heard.