Nationals' Sean Nolin Suspended 5 Games for Throwing at Braves' Freddie Freeman

Washington Nationals left-handed pitcher Sean Nolin has been suspended five games for beaning Atlanta Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman.

Kevin McAlpin of Braves Radio Network and 680 The Fan relayed MLB's press release, which also noted that Nats manager Dave Martinez would be suspended for his team's Friday matchup at the Pittsburgh Pirates:

Nolin unsuccessfully attempted to throw at Freeman in the first inning of Atlanta's 4-2 home loss to the Nationals on Wednesday. His second attempt hit Freeman, however, leading to an umpire conference and an eventual ejection.

As MLB noted, Nolin was slated to begin his suspension Friday, but that is on hold with the pitcher deciding to appeal the league's decision.

Sarah Valenzuela of the New York Daily News provided some context behind the plunking:

"Nolin’s stunt seemed to stem from an incident that happened between the two teams the game before. Nationals young slugger Juan Soto was intentionally plunked on his side by Braves pitcher Will Smith in the ninth inning—Soto and Smith’s bad blood started last season after Soto popped a home run off the lefty."

"Smith was not ejected on Tuesday as the umpires were not able to distinguish whether he intended to hit Soto."

Smith had some beef with Soto stemming from a home run the outfielder smashed in August 2020, leading to Tuesday's beaning.

Freeman had nothing to do with that moment, so he was an innocent bystander in all this. Still, he took the high road, speaking with Soto soon afterward.

Freeman was also respectful in his postgame press conference while also noting that he was disappointed there were two beaning attempts:

At any rate, the Washington-Atlanta season series is now over, so any lingering bad blood will have to wait until 2022.

Washington is playing out the string of a 58-83 season. Atlanta sits first in the National League East as it looks for its fourth straight division title.