Jason Varitek and New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez each were suspended four games by Major League Baseball Friday for their parts in a bench-clearing brawl between the two teams last weekend.
Rodriguez had a staredown with Boston starting pitcher Bronson Arroyo after getting plunked on the left arm in the third inning. Varitek then stepped in and ended up shoving Rodriguez in the face, inciting both benches to clear.
Earlier in the week, Rodriguez said he would appeal any suspension, claiming he acted only in self defence.
Jason Varitek, right, was suspended four games on Thursday for his part in a baseball brawl last weekend. (AP File Photo)
Yankees starter Tanyon Sturtze and Gabe Kapler of the Red Sox started battling during the scrum. Kapler soon had Sturtze wrestled to the ground, as Boston's David Ortiz and Trot Nixon joined in the pummeling.
Rodriguez and Varitek were ejected for their roles starting the fracas, as were Kapler and New York's Kenny Lofton.
Kapler, Nixon and Sturtze were each handed three-game suspensions.
Sturtze wound up with a bloody left ear and left the game with a bruised right pinky finger after giving up two runs in the bottom of the third inning. He was taken for precautionary X-rays.
Lofton, Curt Schilling and Ortiz were fined $500 each.
The brawl was the latest episode of hostility between the two teams. On May 20, 1976, a huge fracas took place at Yankee Stadium after New York's Lou Piniella collided with Red Sox catcher Carlton Fisk. In that fight, Boston pitcher Bill Lee was body-slammed and suffered a broken collarbone.
The teams also brawled during Game 3 of last October's American League Championship Series, which resulted in Boston ace Pedro Martinez throwing 72-year-old Don Zimmer, then the Yankees' bench coach, to the ground.
with files from Sports Network
