San Francisco Giants third baseman Matt Chapman is appealing a one-game suspension handed down Wednesday by Major League Baseball along with an undisclosed fine after he made contact with Colorado Rockies pitcher Kyle Freeland in a game a night earlier.
Chapman, Freeland and Giants shortstop Willy Adames were ejected following the first-inning fracas during San Francisco’s 7-4 win Tuesday night at Coors Field.
Chapman’s suspension had been set to be served Wednesday night as the series resumed but will wait until the appeal process is complete. In the second inning Wednesday, Chapman homered off German Marquez to put the Giants ahead 1-0. He then connected for a three-run shot in the sixth for a 9-5 lead, after manager Bob Melvin was ejected in the bottom of the fifth for arguing balls and strikes. San Francisco went on to win again, 10-8.
“The moment I talked to Matt, he wanted to play today regardless, so it was an easy call,” Melvin said postgame. “And thank goodness he played.”
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Freeland, Adames and Rafael Devers also were fined for their involvement in what became a benches-clearing incident that started after Devers hit a towering two-run homer in the first inning and admired it before beginning his slow trot.
“Look, we didn’t feel like we started it. It is what it is, deal with it going forward. We’ll see what happens in the appeal. The other ones were fines,” Melvin said before the game. “You knew something was going to happen. We were hoping there weren’t suspensions. Ended up being one, and it’s on appeal, so see where that goes.”
Devers crushed a sweeper over the right-field wall and then Freeland took exception with Devers’ celebration, prompting both players to shout at each other.
“He watched it for a while, longer than Kyle liked. Kyle took offense to it, felt disrespected. I back him 100% on that,” Rockies manager Warren Schaeffer said Wednesday. “He didn’t like it. Had to say a few words to him, went after him a little bit, benches cleared. Sometimes that stuff happens in baseball. … In today’s game, a lot of people think let the kids play. But that kind of goes out the window when you have a competitor who takes offense to something happening, especially in his own ballpark. I back him. Hopefully it’s over with, but it’s a moment in time that I’m glad it’s done.”
Several players charged toward the infield, and MLB said Chapman was disciplined for “pushing” Freeland. Adames also was in the middle of the scrum.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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