Major League Baseball announced Sunday afternoon that New York Mets relief pitcher Yohan Ramírez and manager Carlos Mendoza are being suspended for the wild pitch that went behind Milwaukee Brewers designated hitter Rhys Hoskins on Saturday. Ramírez is being suspended three games and Mendoza one. Major League Baseball is ruling that pitch that Ramírez threw was intentional.
Ramírez is appealing his three-game suspension. Meanwhile, Mendoza will not serve as the team’s manager Sunday. That likely means bench coach John Gibbons will take the reins as the head man for the Mets during Sunday’s 1:40 pm ET series finale at Citi Field. Gibbons spent 11 seasons as the manager of the Toronto Blue Jays.
To spark the suspension, in the top of the seventh inning of Saturday’s game, Ramírez threw a wild 94 mph sinker that got behind Hoskins. This came after Hoskins had a hard, late slide on Friday that sparked a brief bench-clearing incident and outraged Jeff McNeil. The next day, Hoskins responded with a 3-for-3 performance with a home run prior to the pitch going behind his back in Saturday’s game.
After the game, both Ramírez and Mendoza said the pitch was not intentional. Further, Brewers manager Pat Murphy even said, “I bet it wasn’t on purpose.” Despite this, Major League Baseball is handing out the two suspensions deeming the pitch was indeed intentional.
When asked about the suspensions prior to Sunday’s game Hoskins said, “Puts us in a better spot, obviously.”
