Milwaukee 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 during the team's 6-0 win over the St. Louis Cardinals. Uribe is appealing the suspension, so it will be held in abeyance until that process is complete.
The Incident
Things got tense between the two National League Central rivals in the eighth inning when Uribe 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 replay showed it just clipped the zone. Had the call been overturned, Burleson's walk would have loaded the bases.
Manager's Reaction
After the game, Brewers manager Pat Murphy sounded none too pleased with the 25-year-old right-hander:
"That's unacceptable. It's just unacceptable. I don't know what got over him. 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's Apology
Uribe, through a translator, apologized to his own 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."
"But at the same time, I don't think it's unprofessional for their manager to be making signs towards our dugout saying that he's going to be hitting guys. There was an event that occurred duringpractice today, too, and I don't think that was right. So, I have my teammates' back always."
Background
Tensions appeared to rise when Uribe, just before Burleson came to bat, buzzed Ivn Herrera near his head with a fastball – the third pitch of an eventual four-pitch walk. Herrera then said something to Uribe.
"I wasn't disrespectful, because all I said, 'Keep it down,'" Herrera said, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. "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. No Brewers batters had been hit by a pitch through the first two games of the series. Jake Bauers was hit on Wednesday, but nothing much came of it.