ANAHEIM, Calif. — Minnesota Twins reliever Tyler Duffey was suspended for three games and manager Rocco Baldelli received a one-game ban Thursday for intentionally throwing behind Yermín Mercedes of the Chicago White Sox in a sequence of events that sparked a debate on the importance of the unwritten rules of baseball.
Baldelli will miss the second game of the Twins’ makeup doubleheader against the Los Angeles Angels on Thursday.
Duffey appealed his ban, and the Angels pounded him for four hits and three runs in the fifth inning of the first game.
Duffey was ejected Tuesday night when he threw behind Mercedes in the seventh inning.
The Twins were responding to Mercedes’ homer on a 3-0 pitch while Chicago had an 11-run lead a day earlier. White Sox manager Tony La Russa scolded his rookie slugger Monday for trying to get a hit in that situation, calling him “clueless.”
The 76-year-old La Russa also said he was fine with the Twins’ actions on Tuesday. Several White Sox players spoke up in defense of Mercedes and in conflict with the old-school beliefs espoused by their manager and the Twins.
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