Cincinnati fielder Nick Castellanos has been suspended for two games due to his actions on Saturday, which led to a quarrel with the St. Louis Cardinals.
Castellanos, who is appealing the suspension, was not the only player penalized as he and five others were also fined.
The drama actually started on Thursday, the opening day, when the Reds right-back struck a home run and jumped out of the box before throwing his bat. After a day off for the teams, Castellanos was hit by a field from Cardinals reliever Jake Woodford in the fourth innings of Saturday’s game.
Castellanos, who does not succumb to the looting, gets the ball and offers to throw it back to Woodford before dropping it out of play. When Castellanos scored later in the turn on a wild pitch, he slipped and bumped Woodford, who was covering the home plate, stood up, screaming and bending in front of the pitcher.
When Castellanos started walking away, catcher Yadier Molina stormed up and tapped him from behind, leaving the benches and bullpens empty. Only Castellanos was evicted, as referee Jim Reynolds said Castellanos ‘unnecessarily involved the pitcher again’ after moving into the house.
“I’m not out here to despise anyone or anything, but I want to win,” Castellanos said after the 9-6 victory Saturday.
Mike Shildt, manager of St. Louis, saw it differently.
“It’s not necessary to stand over someone and tease someone,” Shildt said.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.