Aroldis Chapman, Aaron Boone, Kevin Cash Suspended for Yankees vs. Rays Incident

New York Yankees closer Aroldis Chapman has been suspended three games by Major League Baseball after throwing near the head of Tampa Bay Rays infielder Mike Brosseau on Tuesday night, which led to both benches clearing. 

Yankees manager Aaron Boone and Rays manager Kevin Cash were also suspended one game. 

Chapman will appeal the suspension, per Bryan Hoch of MLB.com. 

"To be clear, I had no intention of hitting anyone," Chapman told reporters. 

Boone also disagreed with the ruling. 

"I don't think I should be sitting out tonight, nor Chappy, but I do respect the process," he said, according to Hoch. 

Cash's postgame comments on Tuesday likely assured his one-game suspension. 

"It's absolutely ridiculous," he told reporters. "It was mishandled by the Yankees. Certainly the pitcher on the mound. It was mishandled by the umpires. ... Somebody has to be accountable. The last thing I'll say on it is I got a whole damn stable full of guys that throw 98 mph. Period."

Boone called Cash's quote "a pretty scary comment. I don't think that's right at all. But I'm not going to get into it right now."

The Yankees (20-14) won Tuesday's game, 5-3, pulling to within 3.5 games of the first-place Rays (25-12) in the American League East. The teams meet again on Wednesday night at 7:05 p.m. ET, with plenty of intrigue surrounding any matchup between them given how heated the rivalry has become.