Major League Baseball has suspended Washington Nationals pitcher Sean Nolin five games and manager Dave Martinez one game. The suspensions are a result of Nolin intentionally hitting Atlanta Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman with a pitch during Wednesday’s game.
Nolin missed his first attempt to throw at Freeman. But, plunked the Braves star on the second attempt. The obvious intent resulted in Nolin being ejected after just eight pitches into the game.
Nationals star Juan Soto embraced Freeman after the first inning. Freeman, then, had a talk with Martinez near the dugout.
Washington was retaliating from the previous night when Braves closer hit Soto with a pitch. While Smith was not suspended, it appeared to be intentional. Smith and Soto have had an ongoing rivalry that started to brew in August 2020.
Tension between the two players continued into Thursday’s series finale. Smith and Soto faced off in the ninth inning, but the Braves elected to intentionally walk Soto, giving an anticlimactic ending to the 2021 chapter of their beef.
Martinez served his one-game suspension Friday night as the Nationals hosted the Pittsburgh Pirates. Initially it was reported Nolin would appeal his suspension. However, he opted to drop the appeal and begin his suspension Friday, according to Mark Zuckerman of MASN Sports.Ā
