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On Friday afternoon, Major League Baseball announced disciplinary decisions following Thursday afternoon’s matchup between the Yankees and Tigers, which featured three bench-clearing brawls.
Tigers first baseman Miguel Cabrera received the most severe discipline, earning a seven-game suspension after shoving Yankees catcher Austin Romine and tackling him to the ground in the sixth inning, which inspired the biggest of the brawls. Romine received a two-game suspension for throwing punches as he sought to defend himself from Cabrera.
Yankees catcher Gary Sanchez, who was not ejected from Thursday’s game and took over for the ejected Romine after beginning the game as the designated hitter, received a four-game suspension for throwing sucker punches at Tigers players as the brawl took place.
Tigers reliever Alex Wilson was suspended four games for hitting Yankees third baseman Todd Frazier while warnings were in place for both teams (and afterward admitting that it was intentional), and his manager, Brad Ausmus, also received a one-game suspension for Wilson’s actions.
Yankees manager Joe Girardi, bench coach Rob Thomson, outfielder Brett Gardner, pitcher Tommy Kahnle, first baseman Garrett Cooper, outfielder Clint Frazier, and Tigers shortstop Jose Iglesias received fines for their roles in Thursday’s events.
Notably, Yankees pitcher Dellin Betances was not suspended or fined despite being ejected Thursday after throwing a 98-mph fastball at the head of Tigers catcher James McCann. Betances said following the game that he didn’t intend to hit McCann, which would seem to make sense considering that the game was then tied at 6-6 in the seventh inning.
With the Tigers out of contention, the biggest possible consequence to come from these suspensions would seem to be the possibility that the Yankees could end up short on catching depth for a few days, especially since the only other catcher on their 40-man roster, Kyle Higashioka, is currently on the 7-day disabled list in Triple-A. But Sanchez and Romine will both appeal their suspensions, per Ryan Field of ABC 7 in New York, so the Yankees should be able to manipulate the appeal process to avoid playing without more than one of their regular catchers at a given time.