St. Louis manager Tony La Russa and Pittsburgh manager Lloyd McClendon each were suspended for two games Friday after getting into a shouting match during a game that caused both benches to empty.
McClendon and La Russa also were both fined undisclosed amounts by Bob Watson, baseball’s vice president of on-field operations.
La Russa began his suspension Friday night. McClendon, whose Pirates beat the Cubs 2-1 Friday, was to begin his suspension Saturday.
Both managers were ejected with two outs in the top of the ninth inning in St. Louis’ 4-2 victory over Pittsburgh on Thursday after Pirates reliever Mike Gonzalez sent Tony Womack to the dirt with a high, inside pitch.
Before Gonzalez’s next pitch, La Russa yelled at him. That prompted McClendon to storm out of his team’s dugout and head toward the St. Louis dugout to confront La Russa.
Plate umpire Brian Gorman and first-base umpire Dale Scott tried to restrain McClendon. La Russa came onto the field, and the umpires stood between the managers as they exchanged heated words along the first-base line near the Cardinals dugout.
FRIDAY’S GAMES
RESULTS, SYNOPSIS
Florida 5 at N.Y. Mets 1
W: Pavano (5-2)
L: Trachsel (5-4)
S: Benitez (21)
Hee Seop Choi hit go-ahead sac fly in 6th inning. Miguel Cabrera had 3 hits and Marlins ended 4-game losing streak. Mets had 4-game winning streak snapped.
Montreal 4 at Cincinnati 2
W: Day (4-6)
L: Acevedo (3-4)
S: Biddle (11)
Brad Wilkerson hit solo homer and tiebreaking 2-run shot in 7th inning. Reds had their biggest walk-up crowd–10,755–since they started keeping track of statistic in 1987.
Philadelphia 9 at Atlanta 1
W: Milton (7-1)
L: Smith (0-2)
Bobby Abreu and Mike Lieberthal homered to back seven impressive innings by Eric Milton, and Phillies ended 4-game losing streak. Milton allowed 1 earned run and 5 hits.
Houston 3 at St. Louis 5
W: Morris (5-5)
L: Miller (5-6)
S: Isringhausen (12)
Cardinals are a major league-best 19-9 on road, and they’re 12-14 at home after 1-6 start. Mike Lamb is 12-for-25 with 3 homers and 8 RBIs in his last 11 games
San Francisco at Colorado, late
Starters
Schmidt (6-2) vs. Kennedy (4-3)
Jason Schmidt has won last 6 decisions. Rockies’ staff has a major league-worst 5.86 ERA and has given up 300 earned runs, more than any other team. There have been 75 HRs in 25 games at Coors.
Milwaukee at San Diego, late
Starters
Santos (2-2) vs. Tankersley (0-1)
A big reason for Padres’ record is play of right fielder Brian Giles, in his first full season with San Diego. He leads team with 9 HRs, 34 RBIs and 5 steals and is 2nd with .391 on-base percentage.
Los Angeles at Arizona, late
Starters
Ishii (6-3) vs. Fossum (0-3)
Kazuhisa Ishii is 4-1 with a 1.31 ERA in 8 starts against Arizona, including five scoreless outings. Dodgers have won 4 of 5. Dodgers C Lo Duca is 8-for-12 (.667) against Arizona this season.
