Blue Jays' Alek Manoah Suspended 5 Games for Throwing at Orioles' Maikel Franco
June 22, 2021
Major League Baseball suspended Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Alek Manoah five games and fined him after he threw at Maikel Franco during Saturday's contest against the Baltimore Orioles.
Shi Davidi of Sportsnet shared the announcement that also revealed Blue Jays manager Charlie Montoyo was suspended for one game. Montoyo will serve his suspension during Tuesday's game against the Miami Marlins, but Manoah will appeal his punishment:
As ESPN noted, Manoah hit Franco on the left shoulder immediately after allowing back-to-back home runs to Ryan Mountcastle and DJ Stewart.
The benches and bullpens emptied onto the field, although nobody threw any punches. The umpires still ejected Manoah for the pitch.
"I tried to get that fastball in, and it slipped away," the right-hander said. "I was confused by his reaction. I was questioning, 'What's going on? What's wrong?' Those were my hand gestures as I was walking toward him. I didn't understand the frustration there."
Manoah, 23, has appeared in five games for the Blue Jays this season and has a 4.18 ERA, 1.14 WHIP and 27 strikeouts in 23.2 innings. Franco is slashing .212/.254/.377 with nine home runs and 38 RBI this season.
Toronto is 37-37 on the campaign and in fourth place in the American League East. The Orioles are in last place at 23-49.
The division rivals are scheduled to face each other again for a four-game series starting on Thursday.