Rays manager Kevin Cash was suspended for tonight's game against the Yankees, based on his ejection and postgame comments on Tuesday.
Yankees manager Aaron Boone also was suspended for the game, and Yankees reliever Aroldis Chapman was suspended for three for what Major League Baseball called "intentionally throwing a pitch at the head area" of (Rays infielder) Mike Brosseau in the ninth inning" of Tuesday's 5-3 win over the Rays.
All three also were fined undisclosed amounts.
Cash said he felt his suspension was "fair" and "warranted," though he was disappointed to miss tonight's game. Bench coach Matt Quatraro will manage in Cash's absence.
Boone said he did not consider his and Chapman's suspensions justified. Brosseau said he thought the three-game suspension for Chapman was fair, given the shortened season.
Joey Wendle said Cash convened a team meeting this afternoon, making it very clear to the Rays players that they were moving past the issues with the Yankees and would not be initiating anything further.
"I can't promise that nobody's gonna get hit," Wendle said, "but I can promise that it won't be intentional, and that it won't have been coming from our staff or from our players intentionally."
Cash lashed out at the Yankees and the umpires after Tuesday's game, most pointedly because closer Aroldis Chapman threw a 100.5 mph fastball just above the head of Brosseau with two outs in the ninth, the latest episode in an ongoing battle between the teams.
"It's absolutely ridiculous," Cash said. "It was mishandled by the Yankees. Certainly the pitcher on the mound. It was mishandled by the umpires. They hit Joey Wendle intentionally in the first inning. It was clear as day. Chapman comes in, he throws three different balls up and in. I get it _ they don't like being thrown up and in. But enough's enough. We're talking about a 100 mph fastball over a young man's head. It makes no sense.
"It's poor judgment. Poor coaching. It's just poor teaching, what they're doing, and what they're allowing to do. The chirping from the dugout. Somebody would have to tell me, go pull the numbers. Who's hit who more? (The Yankees have hit more Rays, 19-14, in the three seasons under Boone.)
"I can assure you, other than three years ago, there hasn't been one pitch with intent from any of our guys, period," Cash continued. "Somebody's got to be accountable. And the last thing I'll say on it is I've got a whole damn stable full of guys that throw 98 miles an hour. Period."
Boone said Cash's comments about the stable of pitchers throwing 98 were "reckless and inflammatory," but he hopes this is all behind them and both teams can move forward. He said he didn't take offense to what Cash said about the Yankees having poor judgment, poor coaching and poor teaching in the heat of the moment but cracked that being out tonight would give him time to reflect on his coaching.
