Major League Baseball is hearing Houston Astros right-hander Bryan Abreu’s appeal of his two-game suspension Monday morning.
A decision could be rendered prior to Monday night’s Game 7 of the American League Championship Series against the visiting Texas Rangers.
Abreu filed his appeal prior to the Astros’ 9-2 home loss in Game 6 on Sunday.
The 26-year-old reliever received the two-game ban on Saturday after hitting Rangers star Adolis Garcia with a pitch in Game 5 on Friday.
MLB said all six umpires deemed that Abreu had intentionally hit Garcia with the pitch in the eighth inning of the Astros’ 5-4 win Friday. Garcia hit a three-run homer in his previous at-bat against Justin Verlander and wildly celebrated.
The right-handed Abreu’s actions led to a benches-clearing incident and a 12-minute delay before play resumed.
Abreu pitched one inning in Sunday’s Game 6 loss, allowing a run on two hits with two strikeouts. He has a 2.45 ERA with 13 strikeouts and two walks in 7 1/3 innings in eight appearances this postseason.
Abreu was 3-2 with a 1.75 ERA, five saves, 100 strikeouts and 31 walks in 72 innings over 72 appearances during the regular season. He gave up just 44 hits.
–Field Level Media