Sat Jun 21 04:40:00 UTC 2025: **Padres’ Suarez Suspended for Hitting Ohtani; Dodgers & Padres Managers Also Punished After Contentious Game**
LOS ANGELES – San Diego Padres closer Robert Suarez has been suspended for three games and fined an undisclosed amount by Major League Baseball after intentionally hitting Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani with a pitch during Thursday night’s heated rivalry game at Dodger Stadium. Suarez is appealing the suspension and was eligible to play Friday night against the Kansas City Royals.
Adding to the fallout, Padres manager Mike Shildt and Dodgers manager Dave Roberts were also each handed one-game suspensions and undisclosed fines for their roles in the series of altercations that erupted in the ninth inning of the Padres’ 5-3 victory.
The on-field tension escalated after Shildt believed Dodgers reliever Jack Little intentionally hit Fernando Tatís Jr. in the hand with a pitch. The ensuing argument led to both managers being ejected after a physical confrontation on the field.
“Circumstances were really challenging this past series, and at the end of the day I don’t regret standing up for a guy that I love in Tati, and a team that I love and a city that I love,” Shildt said.
Roberts said he supports the disciplinary decision. “I think that obviously I never want to make the game about the managers… it should be about the players and winning.”
In the bottom of the ninth, Suarez’s pitch hit Ohtani, prompting a near bench-clearing incident. Ohtani diffused the situation by gesturing to his teammates to stay back and walking to the Padres’ dugout.
Suarez denied intentionally hitting Ohtani, stating, “I was never trying to get anyone into trouble or hit anybody. Unfortunately it happened… I was out there to try to save the game.”
Ohtani threw a bullpen session as scheduled on Friday. Tatís was in the Padres’ lineup as usual Friday.
First Piper 