Anderson, Keller among 3 suspended for White Sox-Royals incident
Kansas City pitcher Brad Keller received a five-game suspension while Chicago White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson and manager Rick Renteria each received one-game bans for taking part in a benches-clearing incident between the teams on Wednesday.
Joe Torre, chief baseball officer for Major League Baseball, announced the suspensions on Friday.
All three participants were also fined undisclosed amounts. Keller was suspended for intentionally throwing at Anderson, while Anderson and Renteria were sanctioned for their actions during the skirmish.
The incident was sparked in Anderson's previous at-bat, when the American League's leading hitter smashed a home run and threw his bat toward his team's dugout.
While the official language offered up by MLB regarding Anderson's suspension was "for his conduct after the benches cleared," according to multiple reports Friday, Anderson's suspension actually stemmed from what he said rather than anything he did.
Per ESPN's Jeff Passan, Anderson yelled multiple profanities at Keller during the skirmish, including calling the Royals pitcher the N-word.
"We're going to keep moving forward," Anderson told reporters Friday. "That happened a couple days ago, so we're going to keep having fun and keep playing with a lot of energy and a lot of confidence."
Renteria and Anderson served their suspensions Friday night against the Tigers in Detroit. Keller is appealing his suspension.
--Field Level Media
