Romo suspended, Lindor fined after dustup

MINNEAPOLIS -- Twins reliever Sergio Romo received a one-game suspension and an undisclosed fine as a result of his actions that led to a benches-clearing incident in Friday night’s game vs. the Indians at Target Field. In addition, Indians shortstop Francisco Lindor has received an undisclosed fine for his role in the incident.

Chris Young, senior vice president of baseball operations for Major League Baseball, made the announcement.

Romo did not appeal the suspension and served it Saturday, when the Twins played with 27 active players on their 28-man roster.

Lindor and Romo were seen jawing at each other Friday as Lindor ran to first base after lifting an inning-ending flyout, and both players had to be restrained by teammates, though the incident was quickly de-escalated.

Both Twins manager Rocco Baldelli and Twins president of baseball operations Derek Falvey indicated that the tension between Romo and the Cleveland side went back to the clubs' previous meeting at Progressive Field in late August. The notably vocal and energetic Romo also had issues with the Kansas City dugout earlier this season.

The overall sentiment was that Romo and the Twins wanted to get the suspension over with quickly so that they could return their focus to the playoff chase. Falvey complimented the umpiring staff and members of both teams for their quick handling of Friday's situation and emphasized that the Twins were not happy to be involved in any benches-clearing incident this season, regardless of the circumstances.

"You do not want to see it under any circumstances," Baldelli said. "We know that that’s not always possible to avoid disagreements, and they become very emotional at times, but we know that these are the kinds of things that can get in the way of what we want to accomplish this year. That’s the reason why all of our guys know and continue to need to know that we can’t take part in it and need to limit it in every way."

Sandy Alomar Jr., serving as Cleveland’s manager while Terry Francona deals with health issues, was not overly concerned about the incident.

“Just a little chirping around,” Alomar said. “I didn’t see anything necessary to suspend people, but that’s Major League Baseball trying to prevent things to escalate in the future. I imagine that was their thought.”