Hours after Major League Baseball upheld Bryan Abreu’s two-game suspension for intentionally beaning Rangers outfielder Adolis Garcia, the Astros reliever hit his second Texas batter in three games.
With the Astros down 8-2 in the top of the sixth inning, Abreu sent a 97-mph fastball straight into the ribs of catcher Mitch Garver.
The Rangers’ batter immediately grimaced in pain and stood with his hands on his knees at home plate.
A team trainer and Rangers’ manager Bruce Bochy came out to check on Garver, who eventually made his way to first base and remained in the game.
On replay of the pitch, a loud thud could be heard when the ball made contact with Garver’s body.
The Rangers got a bit of revenge on Abreu a few moments later when Nathaniel Lowe sent a 3-1 pitch just over the right field wall for a two-run homer to extend Texas’ lead to 10-2, and they ended up winning Game 7, 11-4, to secure their first World Series berth since 2011.
Abreu had not made many friends in Arlington after he cleared the benches in Game 5 when he hit Garcia in the left arm with a fastball.
Garcia believed that the move was intentional and it kicked off a 12-minute delay as players from both teams spilled onto the field.
When all was said and done, all six umpires believed Abreu hit the Rangers’ player intentionally — Garcia had boisterously celebrated a two-run home run two innings earlier — and ejected the reliever.
MLB suspended him for two games over the incident and upheld the ruling after an appeal, but the ban will not take place until the 2024 season, which allowed him to pitch on Monday.
“Of course, I’m glad to be here and try to help the team to win,” Abreu told reporters when asked about being able to pitch in Game 7, according to MLB.com.
The Astros were looking to make their fifth World Series appearance in the last seven years before the loss.
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