Twins Pitcher Fined

DETROIT (AP) — Tigers general manager Dave Dombrowski does not agree with Major League Baseball's decision to suspend Detroit pitcher Jeremy Bonderman for intentionally hitting Minnesota's Delmon Young and to only fine Twins pitcher Jose Mijares.

Bonderman was suspended for three games Friday, while Mijares was fined for intentionally throwing behind the Tigers' Adam Everett.

"I don't think the ruling makes any sense," Dombrowski said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press on Friday night, before Detroit opened a three-game series against the Chicago White Sox with a two-game lead over the Twins.

"I don't know how the person who starts it doesn't get some sort of penalty too," Dombrowski added. "I've expressed that to people in the commissioner's office."

The punishments stemmed from an escalating situation Thursday that started with inside pitches — two at Detroit's Marcus Thames and one at Minnesota's Denard Span — and ended with Young screaming at Mijares after getting hit.

After spending a moment on the ground in obvious pain, Young got up, slammed his helmet to the ground and had to be held back from going toward Minnesota's dugout.

Both benches cleared, but the players only milled around once they realized that Young wasn't about to charge the mound.

"Trust me, Delmon wasn't at all upset with the Tigers," Span said Thursday. "He knew what was going to happen, and he was angry at our teammate. I probably would have felt the same way if I had been the first batter up in that inning."

Twins manager Ron Gardenhire and some of his players also were unhappy with Mijares.

"I want to make this perfectly clear — our pitcher lost his cool and threw a pitch behind one of their players, and you don't do that," Gardenhire said. "We told them that we screwed up, and that we know they did what they needed to do, and that it is over. I talked to Mr. Leyland, and I told him that."

Mijares declined comment Thursday, as did Leyland, who was ejected after a face-to-face argument with plate umpire Angel Hernandez that followed Mijares' pitch behind Everett.

Bonderman, who also was fined, appealed the penalty assessed by MLB vice president Bob Watson, delaying the start of the suspension.

Tigers hitting coach Lloyd McClendon also was suspended for one game and fined because Bonderman acted intentionally following warnings to both teams during Minnesota's 8-3 win Thursday. McClendon was the acting manager after Leyland was ejected.

Leyland and catcher Gerald Laird were fined for arguing with Hernandez..

Bonderman and Tigers catcher Gerald Laird were immediately ejected after the pitch that hit Young. Laird said he'd never seen a player react the way Young did to being hit by a pitch.

It was a first for Twins catcher Mike Redmond, too.

"I've seen players get angry with their own pitcher in that situation before, but I've never seen it happen on the field," Redmond said. "I understand why he was angry, and I understand why Leyland was upset."

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.