Seven punished for roles in brawl

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The Kansas City Royals and Chicago White Sox each lost Saturday without playing a game.

Four members of the Royals and three from the White Sox were punished for their roles in a series-opening brawl and six of the players drew suspensions. Major League Baseball placed the blame for the fighting squarely on both teams.

Royals pitcher Yordano Ventura was handed a seven-game suspension, fellow starter Edinson Volquez given five games and outfielder Lorenzo Cain and reliever Kelvin Herrera got two games apiece. White Sox pitchers Chris Sale and Jeff Samardzija were suspended five games each, while catcher Tyler Flowers escaped suspension but joined the others in getting an undisclosed fine.

The Royals have not said whether they plan to appeal their punishments, which would begin with today's series finale because of a rainout Saturday. Sale and Samardzija plan to appeal.

"I think everybody had some elements of their behavior over the course of that incident on both sides that they wish they handled differently," White Sox General Manager Rick Hahn said Saturday. "Respect the fact that our players stood up and took responsibility for their actions and expressed remorse over those things they wish had been handled better.

"It is something that happens from time to time," Hahn added. "It's part of the game."

It's a costly part of the game, though. Along with the suspensions, Hahn said reliever Matt Albers fractured a finger on his throwing hand in the melee and will go on the disabled list.

Meanwhile, Herrera is already awaiting an appeal on a five-game suspension that was handed down after he threw a pitch behind Oakland third baseman Brett Lawrie during a series last weekend. Ventura was fined for hitting Lawrie with a 99 mph fastball during the same series.

"We understand that Major League Baseball has to do what they think is fair in situations like this," Royals Manager Ned Yost said in a team statement. "Now, we just have to wait for the appeals process to play out."

Tensions between the Royals and White Sox had been building since the opening series of the season, when the teams combined to hit six batters. Two more were plunked early Thursday night when Ventura hit Jose Abreu in the fourth inning and Sale hit Mike Moustakas in the fifth.

The simmering anger finally boiled over in the seventh, when Ventura snagged a grounder from Chicago outfielder Adam Eaton and the two exchanged words before Eaton was thrown out at first. Eaton had to be restrained from Ventura, who was ejected from his second consecutive start.

"It was a messy situation," Ventura said through a translator.

Players from both dugouts and bullpens then ran onto the field. Volquez whiffed throwing a haymaker, and several other players threw punches in a fight that lasted several minutes.

"There are real negative repercussions of this," Hahn said."

CARDINALS

Molina out vs. Brewers

MILWAUKEE -- St. Louis Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina did not start in Saturday night's game against the Milwaukee Brewers, a day after being struck on the right knee guard by a foul tip.

Manager Mike Matheny said there would be no roster move, and Tony Cruz started for Molina.

"We're still hopeful that we're talking a day or so," Matheny said. "We'll adjust as we need to."

Molina's knee is less swollen but still sore, making it difficult to get in the catcher's squat.

Molina, 32, has played in 14 of the Cardinals' 15 games. He's hitting .294.

ATHLETICS

Zobrist placed on 15-day DL

OAKLAND, Calif.-- The Oakland Athletics placed infielder/outfielder Ben Zobrist on the 15-day disabled list Saturday with torn cartilage in his left knee.

"I'm disappointed. I just didn't feel like I could be the player that this team needs me to be in the condition I was trying to play in," Zobrist said. "So I got to get it cleaned up and get back out here as soon as possible."

Oakland purchased the contract of infielder Max Muncy from Triple-A Nashville to take Zobrist's place on the 25-man roster. Muncy started at third base and batted seventh for Saturday's game against Houston for his major league debut.

Zobrist was batting .240 with 1 home run and 8 RBI in 14 games. He has started games at second base, left field and right field this season.

ODDS & ENDS

Jim Fanning, the longtime Montreal Expos executive who managed the franchise to its only playoff appearance in Canada, has died. He was 87. The Toronto Blue Jays confirmed Fanning's death Saturday. Fanning was the Expos' general manager when the team entered the major leagues in 1968 and spent 25 years with the franchise that moved to Washington in 2005 and became the Nationals. As field manager in the strike-shortened 1981 season, he directed Montreal to playoffs. After beating Philadelphia, the Expos lost to Los Angeles in the National League Championship Series. Fanning was 116-103 as manager in 1981-82 and 1984. ... The Toronto Blue Jays released left-hander Ricky Romero, a former All-Star who has been slowed by knee injuries for several seasons. Romero, 30, was in the final season of a five-year contract. He had been working out at the Blue Jays' spring training complex in Dunedin. Romero went 13-9 as a rookie in 2009 and was an AL All-Star in 2011. He is 51-45 with a 4.16 ERA overall. ... The Boston Red Sox have placed outfielder Shane Victorino on the 15-day disabled list with a right hamstring strain. Victorino sustained the injury while running the bases against Tampa Bay on Wednesday. He has not played since then, so the move is retroactive to Thursday. To replace Victorino on the roster, the Red Sox recalled right-hander Matt Barnes from Triple-A Pawtucket. Victorino is batting .143 in 12 games.

Sports on 04/26/2015

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