San Diego Padres right-hander Ron Marinaccio was suspended three games and fined an undisclosed amount on Monday for what Major League Baseball called intentionally hitting the Baltimore Orioles’ Gunnar Henderson with a pitch.
Marinaccio filed an appeal on the suspension, which would have started with Monday’s road game against the St. Louis Cardinals. The appeals process must be completed before discipline is applied.
San Diego manager Craig Stammen, who received a one-game suspension and an undisclosed fine for the incident in Saturday’s 9-3 win at Baltimore, will serve his suspension on Monday, the league announced.
Marinaccio recorded two outs in the ninth inning and no runners aboard before hitting Henderson on the first pitch of his at-bat.
The Orioles believed the Padres were retaliating for Baltimore starter Trey Gibson, who already had walked five batters, hitting Xander Bogaerts in the helmet on his final pitch — the rookie’s 93rd of the game — in the fifth inning.
Bogaerts left the game in the sixth with what Stammen called “a little spasm here in the neck.”
Henderson said after Saturday’s game that he was hit on purpose after dodging out of the way of two inside pitches from the Padres’ Bradgley Rodriguez in the seventh. He could not avoid Marinaccio’s offering.
“I guess they were trying to get payback,” Henderson said, “so I guess we’re even now.”
Orioles manager Craig Albernaz respected the way the Padres handled the situation.
“Trey (Gibson) hit Bogaerts in the head and their dugout didn’t like it at all. Obviously, it definitely wasn’t intentional. It was a two-seam that slipped out of his hand,” Albernaz said on Saturday. “I get there why they’re mad; the ball hit him in the head and he had to come out of the game. I’m not saying the ball to Gunnar was on purpose, but it was done the right way.
“And that’s why there was no gripes from us, and Gunnar was fine with it and just took it to first base.”
Marinaccio said afterward that the strategy facing Henderson was to pitch him inside.
“He’s a great hitter. You’ve got to make hitters like that uncomfortable at times, and I pulled a fastball a little bit too much there,” Marinaccio said. “I could understand the visual, a couple guys pitching inside earlier, but there were no warnings.”
Stammen also disagreed with the umpiring crew ejecting Marinaccio without a warning, forcing him to bring in reliever Adrian Morejon.
“They definitely thought he did it on purpose. That was not my understanding or my take from it. Ultimately, that’s why I went out and argued,” Stammen said after the game. “Just didn’t think it was warranted. It would’ve been fine if they just warned everybody. We’d have been fine and moved on from there.”
Marinaccio, 30, is 1-0 with a 3.96 ERA, 10 walks and 31 strikeouts in 36 1/3 innings over 24 relief appearances this season.
For his career, Marinaccio is 7-5 with two saves, a 3.23 ERA, 75 walks and 180 strikeouts in 161 2/3 innings over 132 games, all in relief.
