Nationals' López suspended 3 games for throwing at McCutchen
Washington Nationals reliever Jorge López has been suspended three games for intentionally throwing at Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Andrew McCutchen, the league announced Thursday, according to Andrew Golden of The Washington Post.
Nationals manager Dave Martinez was suspended for one game.
Golden reports López intends to appeal the suspension. The reliever insisted there was no intent behind the pitch that sailed over McCutchen's head and caused the benches to briefly clear.
"I apologize for everything," López said after his team's 6-1 loss at PNC Park, according to Jessica Camerato of MLB.com. "I didn't make any pitch (on purpose) right there. ... I tried to do my adjustment. I've been trying to find my way with my delivery, I tried to find my way through the whole season. And it's really miserable that happened. I regret what just happened."
With the count at 1-1, López's 92-mph sinker flew over McCutchen and sent the former MVP sprawling to the ground. It came three pitches after Bryan Reynolds reached base after being hit by a López sinker. A clearly upset McCutchen exchanged words with López and both benches emptied, although order was quickly restored.
(Video source: MLB.com)
Umpires determined there was intent and ejected López. Eduardo Salazar finished the at-bat and walked McCutchen before surrendering a grand slam to the next batter, Oneil Cruz.
Tensions at PNC Park were high even before the incident. Pittsburgh's Mitch Keller hit Nationals infielder Paul DeJong in the face and broke his nose during Tuesday's game. López also had a bit of history with Reynolds and McCutchen; the Pirates duo took him deep in the eighth inning of a game last September when López pitched for the Chicago Cubs.
All of this might have been in the minds of the Pirates when their sluggers were hit Wednesday.
"It was way too close to his head," Pirates manager Derek Shelton said, according to Noah Hiles of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. "Bryan had gotten hit two pitches before. And then we go above Cutch's head? Not a fan of that."
McCutchen said he wasn't sure if the pitch's placement was intentional. He also took a more positive approach to the incident, noting that moments like this can help bring a team together.
"You don't always want to feel like you're forcing the team bond and the team here and doing this," McCutchen said. "Sometimes you have to. You have to force this, especially around the season. But when the season's gone the way that it's gone for us so far, sometimes things like that can bring a team that's just trying to figure out their identity and figure out the whys. Why are we up and down, why do we score 10 one day and can't seem to score one the next?
"You have something like today. It can bring teams together. But it's a good overall win for us. Hopefully that's the fire that we need."