SAN FRANCISCO — A payback pitch will end up costing Hunter Strickland six games.
The reliever was suspended and fined by Major League Baseball for his role in a benches-clearing brawl on Monday. Bryce Harper was suspended four games and also fined. Both players are appealing their suspensions.
Strickland threw a 98 mph fastball at Harper’s hip in the eighth inning of a 3-0 loss and Harper immediately charged the mound. Both players threw punches before teammates rushed in and broke it up. Strickland was so incensed that it took three large teammates to drag him off the field.