Washington Nationals pitcher Jorge Lopez caused the benches to clear when he threw a pitch near Andrew McCutchen’s head during Wednesday night’s game against the Pittsburgh Pirates, and Major League Baseball felt there was intent behind the act.
MLB announced on Thursday that Lopez has been suspended three games for “intentionally throwing at Andrew McCutchen.” The right-hander is planning to appeal the ban.
Nationals manager Dave Martinez has been suspended for one game. Managers are not allowed to appeal, so Martinez will miss Thursday’s series finale against Pittsburgh.
Lopez was pitching in relief in the seventh inning of the Pirates 6-1 win over the Nationals on Wednesday night when McCutchen came to the plate. Pittsburgh was leading 2-0 at the time, and Lopez threw a 2-2 pitch near McCutchen’s head. The veteran outfielder had to duck to avoid being hit.
McCutchen and Lopez began jawing at one another, which led to the benches clearing. The umpiring crew eventually got together and decided to eject Lopez. You can see the video of the incident here.
Lopez hit infielder Bryan Reynolds with a pitch during the previous at-bat. Some speculated that Lopez may have been trying to get even after both Reynolds and McCutchen homered off him when Lopez was a member of the Chicago Cubs last season. McCutchen was fired up about the home run and very animated as he rounded the bases.
It is possible that MLB took Lopez’s past actions into consideration with the disciplinary ruling. Lopez was cut by the New York Mets last May after an ugly incident in which he was ejected for arguing a check-swing call with an umpire. He then proceeded to throw his glove into the stands and make some questionable postgame comments.
