In Game 5 of the American League Championship Series on Friday, Houston Astros relief pitcher Bryan Abreu was found to have intentionally thrown at Texas Rangers outfielder Adolis García by Major League Baseball, leading to a two-game suspension, as reported by ESPN’s Jeff Passan.
Passan expects Abreu to file an appeal, nevertheless. If so, a hearing is scheduled for the next 48 hours. If Houston is still in the playoffs, Abreu would serve his penalty in the event of a loss.
When Abreu threw a 99 mph fastball to start off García’s at-bat in the bottom of the eighth inning, both players and Houston manager Dusty Baker were eventually ejected. Baker, García, and Abreu also got unreported fines.
Abreu told reporters postgame that he didn’t hit García on purpose. García, obviously, believes otherwise and said afterward that what happened was “not right.”
It was not competitive to hit García at that precise moment. With a runner on first and no one out in the bottom of the eighth inning, Houston was down 4-2 at that point. Houston would have trailed three games to two in the ALCS had they lost the match.
Conversely, the Astros might have been upset at the home run reaction, and there has been animosity between the two teams since a bench-clearing incident involving García during the regular season.
