Manny Machado’s five game suspension upheld, starts tonight
By Mike Marteny
Baltimore Orioles third baseman Manny Machado has lost the appeal of his five game suspension for throwing his bat after being brushed back on consecutive pitches by Oakland Athletics reliever Fernando Abad on June 8th. Machado will begin serving the suspension tonight.
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The upholding of the appeal couldn’t have come at a worse time for the Orioles. They will play 14 games in 14 days leading up to the All-Star break. They will essentially be playing the next five games with a 24 man roster.
Ryan Flaherty will be Machado’s replacement at third base for the four game series with the Texas Rangers that starts tonight in Baltimore. He will also serve at third in Friday’s series opener in Boston against the Red Sox.
This whole season has been a disappointment for Machado. He missed all of April with a knee injury that he suffered at the end of last season while running the bases in a game against the Tampa Bay Rays.
When he has been on the field, his antics, specifically in the series against Oakland, spoke louder than anything he has done for his team.
Machado is hitting just .237 with seven homers and 17 RBI. This coming after his first full season in which the 20 year old hit .283 with 14 homers, 71 RBI, and 51 doubles.