Milwaukee Brewers catcher Martin Maldonado has been suspended five games by Major League Baseball for his role in Sunday’s bench-clearing incident with the Pittsburgh Pirates. Maldonado was also fined $2,500. His suspension and fine was first reported today by ESPN’s Buster Olney.
The melee started when Brewers’ outfielder Carlos Gomez and Pittsburgh pitcher Gerritt Cole barked at each other after Gomez tripled but dogged it out of the box because he thought the ball was gone.
When the benches emptied, Maldonado threw a punch that left a cut and bruises around the eye of Pirates outfielder Travis Snider. Maldonado’s punch was thrown while Snider was behind held back by teammates.