Wright appeals 3-game suspension for HBP

ARLINGTON -- White Sox right-handed reliever Mike Wright received a three-game suspension and a fine for intentionally throwing at the Angels' Shohei Ohtani in the ninth inning of a 9-3 victory for Los Angeles on Thursday in Chicago.

Wright is appealing the suspension and was available to pitch on Saturday. White Sox manager Tony La Russa received an automatic one-game suspension and fine, with the suspension served Saturday night in Texas. Both suspensions were announced by Major League Baseball prior to Saturday’s contest against the Rangers.

Bench coach Miguel Cairo took over as acting manager while La Russa was out.

La Russa stridently stated postgame Thursday how the pitch hitting Ohtani was not intentional, whereas Angels manager Joe Maddon thought the pitch was intentional and even expected after Yoán Moncada, Luis Robert and José Abreu were all hit on Tuesday. The pitch that hit Robert grazed the back of his helmet, but he was able to stay in the game.

Two previous pitches thrown by Wright prior to the one that hit Ohtani were in the same general location. Following the announcement of the suspensions, La Russa remained unbowed about being disappointed in the umpires’ decision to eject Wright on Thursday.

“Once that happens, this is all automatic. I just don’t think that there’s been enough information that’s really been distributed,” La Russa said. “We’ve hit fewer batters than any team in Major League Baseball. And most importantly, if you watched how we pitched Ohtani for three days, we avoided the middle of the plate.

“In, away, up, down, we avoided the middle. That’s the way we pitched to him. Finally, I didn’t see the scrutiny being even. It was that one pitch, we had plenty of opportunities to be upset, and we were just pitching him the same way we pitched him the whole time. But our guys, three guys get hit, one guy gets hit in the head, Abreu gets hit for the 19th time, and nobody pays attention to that. There’s an unfairness there that upsets me.”

Ohtani, the apparent American League frontrunner for Most Valuable Player, finished 2-for-13 in those three games against the White Sox with seven strikeouts, one walk and the one hit-by-pitch. The hits were a pair of infield singles in the series finale. Ohtani finished 6-for-29 with 13 strikeouts and two home runs in seven games this season against the White Sox.

As La Russa pointed out, his team ranks last in the Majors in opposing batters hit with just 47. He believes the whole scenario presented Thursday and Saturday could help Wright in his appeal process to MLB.

“I’m glad he’ll have a chance to explain it,” La Russa said. “I think that there’s a lot to explain."