ARLINGTON, Texas _ Texas Rangers third baseman Asdrubal Cabrera was slapped with a four-game suspension and undisclosed fine after throwing equipment from the dugout at crew chief Bill Miller Thursday night.
Cabrera was called out by home plate umpire Doug Eddings in the sixth inning on a pitch Cabrera thought was outside.
He returned to the dugout and quickly saw video of the pitch and during Willie Calhoun's at-bat started letting Eddings hear it. The count was 1-1 on Calhoun when Cabrera was ejected. He reacted by tossing on to the field his batting gloves and shin guards, which touched Miller.
"I thought it was (a) quick (ejection)," Rangers manager Chris Woodward said. "He didn't give him much of a chance. He threw him out really fast. So I was out there arguing. In mid-argument, I felt a thing hit my foot and it hit Bill Miller. It's pretty steep (punishment)."
Cabrera will appeal the suspension and was the lineup for the Rangers' series opener against the Chicago White Sox Friday night at Globe Life Park. The suspension will be held in abeyance until the process is complete, according to MLB rules.
"I wasn't trying to hit anybody. I think the umpire is the last guy you want to hit," Cabrera said. "I was just trying to throw the gloves out there to let him know I was (unhappy) instead of walking back to home plate."
Cabrera said inaccurate called third strikes have happened too many times to him this year.
"I saw it was a ball," he said. "If you do it to me on the first pitch or the second pitch, I don't care because I still have pitches left, but when you take the bat out of my hand, that's not right. At some point you are going to get mad."
San Diego Padres slugger Manny Machado was recently suspended for a game for throwing his helmet and bat down after being ejected for arguing a called third strike.
