Brewers reliever Abner Uribe has been suspended for one game due to "inappropriate actions," Major League Baseball announced Friday. The suspension stems from an eighth-inning incident on Tuesday.
Uribe is appealing the suspension, so it will be held in abeyance until that process is complete.
Tense moment in 8th inning
During Milwaukee's 6-0 win over the St. Louis Cardinals, things got tense between the two National League Central rivals in the eighth inning.
That's largely due to Uribe, who made a "crotch chop" gesture at the visiting Cardinals dugout after a called strike three to Alec Burleson.
Burleson challenged the full-count strike three call by plate umpire Adam Hamari, but the review showed it just clipped the zone. Had the call been overturned, Burleson's walk would have loaded the bases.
Murphy condemns gesture
After the game, Brewers manager Pat Murphy sounded none too pleased with the 25-year-old right-handed reliever:
"That's unacceptable. It's just unacceptable. I don't know what got over him. I mean, he's been an emotional guy. But that kind of thing – that's just not how we do things, and I was embarrassed by it."
"Why are we doing it in a 6-0 game? What are we doing there? There must be something deeper that I don't know about. I love the kid. Believe me, I love the kid. There's so much good in this kid. He's been so great for us in so many ways. But that's unacceptable."
Uribe apologizes
Uribe, through a translator, apologized to his team for his actions:
"Everyone here knows me and knows who I am, and knows I have a bit of a history of being emotional out there. I think first I owe an apology to the Brewers. I owe an apology to my teammates, to my manager, all the bosses of the team. I understand that's unacceptable, to go out there and react in a way like that."
He also alleged unprofessional conduct from the Cardinals manager, claiming he saw signs toward the Brewers dugout indicating intent to hit batters.
Earlier tension
Tensions appeared to rise when Uribe, just before Burleson came to bat, buzzed Iván Herrera near his head with a fastball — the third pitch of an eventual four-pitch walk.
Herrera then said something to Uribe. According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Herrera said: "I wasn't disrespectful, (because) all I said, 'Keep it down.' He's throwing 2-0 sinkers to my head. It's a little uncomfortable there. And then you go and do that to the entire team? That's disrespectful."
Uribe declined to elaborate on what he said he saw during Tuesday's batting practice. The Cardinals denied Uribe's allegations.