Joe Kelly, Tyler Austin Suspended For Brawl At Fenway Park
BOSTON (CBS) -- Boston Red Sox pitcher Joe Kelly and New York Yankees first baseman Tyler Austin have been suspended for Wednesday night's bench clearing brawl at Fenway Park.
Kelly has been suspended for six games and was fined an undisclosed amount of money for hitting Austin with a pitch and fighting. Austin received a five-game suspension and an undisclosed fine for charging the mound and fighting.
The benches cleared earlier in the game after Austin's spikes hit Brock Holt's leg on a slide into second base.
Both players will appeal the suspensions which were scheduled to go into effect Thursday night.
Red Sox Manager Alex Cora and Yankees third base coach Phil Nevin were fined as part of the incident. Also fined were players on the disabled list who entered the field, including CC Sabathia of the Yankees, and Xander Bogaerts, Marco Hernandez and Dustin Pedroia of the Red Sox.
Kelly, 29, is in his fifth season with the Red Sox, after joining the team in the trade that sent John Lackey to St. Louis. He's appeared in five games this year, lasting 4.2 innings and posting a 7.71 ERA and 1.714 WHIP while striking out four batters and issuing four walks. In 114 appearances with Boston (41 starts, 73 relief appearances), Kelly owns a 22-9 record with a 4.37 ERA.
Austin, 26, has played in just 61 big league games since 2016. He's hitting .265 with two home runs, two doubles, and six RBIs in 39 plate appearances this season. He's a career .242 hitter with a .309 career on-base percentage.
The 42-year-old Cora is in his first season as Red Sox manager, after playing for the team from 2005-08 as part of his 14-year MLB playing career. Prior to Wednesday's loss, he had the Red Sox at 9-1, their best start in franchise history.
Cora's counterpart is the 45-year-old Aaron Boone, who's in his first season as manager of the Yankees. His managerial career started a bit more turbulently, with the Yankees sitting at 6-6 after Wednesday's win.