Major League Baseball levied penalties Tuesday for the “beanball” exchange between the Braves and Rockies last Thursday in Colorado, and Rockies pitcher Nick Masset got the worst of it.
The Rockies reliever received a three-game suspension and an undisclosed fine for intentionally throwing a pitch at Evan Gattis in the top of the ninth, with a warning to both dugouts already in place.
The exchange started in the bottom of the eighth inning after Gerald Laird got hit in the head by Corey Dickerson’s backswing, two pitches after he’d had a ball fouled off his facemask. Laird had to leave the game but concussion tests were negative.
Braves reliever David Carpenter hit Dickerson in the leg with the very next pitch in apparent retaliation and was immediately ejected. Carpenter was also fined an undisclosed amount on Tuesday.
“It’s just one of those things that Major League Baseball feels they need to do and I understand it,” said Carpenter, who was placed on the disabled list Tuesday with a right biceps strain. “But just take it for what it is and just move on from it.”
Gattis got hit by Masset with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, in retaliation for Dickerson. He shrugged it off by taking his base without incident. Gattis responded in similar fashion Tuesday when he got word of Masset’s suspension.
“I don’t know if he deserves that or not, but not my place,” said Gattis, who said he took first base in part because he thought the incident should end there, and in part because he was the last catcher available for the Braves. “I think it was good to just end it right there.”
When asked if he thought that would end any bad blood between the two teams going forward, Gattis said “hopefully.”
Rockies manager Walt Weiss was ejected in the eighth after Carpenter hit Dickerson. He was angry that Braves pitcher Julio Teheran had also hit Jeff Rutledge in the head with a pitch the game before.
“I just hope it’s done,” Gattis said. “Rutledge got hit in the head - one got away from Juli - and then up and in to Dickerson. We wouldn’t be too happy about it if a guy’s getting hit in the head and pitches getting away from people, so I understand their frustration.”
Gattis was out of the Braves lineup Tuesday night after catching four games in a row for the first time this season. That stretch included a pair of 13-inning games, and Gattis caught all but five of the 26 innings over those two games.
“We’ve ridden him pretty hard here,” Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said. “Just a breather, crank him up tomorrow. That was going to be the plan anyway, even if we had played nine innings (Monday) and Saturday because of the day game (Wednesday). Then he can catch at least three out of the four in Washington.”
Gattis entered Tuesday on a 16-game hitting streak, which is a franchise record for a Brave catcher, surpassing the 15-game mark held by Joe Torre (1967) and Del Crandall (1958).
