The Los Angeles Dodgers will have to finish their three game road trip to Atlanta without manager Don Mattingly. The skipper was suspended today by Major League Baseball for two games after arguing with home-plate umpire Angel Campos in the Dodgers 10-6 loss to the Pirates on Thursday.
Mattingly was also tagged with an undisclosed fine, and league offices cited “excessive arguing” as the reason for both the fine and suspension.
Dodgers outfielder Matt Kemp was also involved in the situation at home-plate on Thursday, but he received no fine or suspension, something Mattingly says he’s happy about. But when word first came down that he’d been suspended, Mattingly was confused — especially since it was due to excessive arguing when it looked like Mattingly was arguing no more than anyone else does in baseball.
But the reason for the suspension was later clarified: Mattingly failed to try and restrain Matt Kemp before digging his own fangs into Campos.
Trey Hillman, the Dodgers bench base coach, will fill in for Mattingly as the weekend series with the Atlanta Braces wraps up. Mattingly wasn’t sure of where’d watch the game, but he was at batting practice on Saturday morning before learning of the suspension.
The Dodgers currently sit a half-game behind the San Francisco Giants in the National League West.
