Jason Marquis receives 5-game suspension, says he’ll appeal

June 8, 2011 (Wednesday)

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JEWISH BASEBALL NEWS — Major League Baseball handed out suspensions for a series-long skirmish between the Washington Nationals and Arizona Diamondbacks that peaked on Sunday (6/5/2011).

Among those named: Nationals P Jason Marquis, who was ordered to sit out 5 games, or roughly one start in a 5-pitcher cycle.

Marquis was 5-and-a-third innings into a 1-0 shutout Sunday when he hit Diamondbacks RF Justin Upton in the back with a pitch (see video). In any other game, no eyebrow would have risen. But Marquis’ errant toss marked the 4th time Upton had been hit in the series, and it came shortly after Nationals RF Jayson Werth was hit for the 3rd time in the series, inspiring home-plate umpire Rob Drake to warn both benches.

Marquis (6-2, 3.84 ERA) plans to appeal, telling the Washington Post he hasn’t once thrown at a batter in his MLB career:

I’ve been in this game for 12 seasons. Never been ejected, never been fined, never been suspended. I don’t understand why I would start now. I’ve been in games where there have been (players) getting hit back and forth. It’s a 1-0 game. We’re trying to put something together here. The game is 1-0. You don’t want it to get away from you just because you’re trying to show your manhood. I’m out there trying to win as many games as possible.

Washington won Sunday’s game 9-4 with an 11th-inning grand slam.

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