Major League Baseball suspended St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Willson Contreras for six games Tuesday after he threw his bat while arguing with umpires on Monday night.
Contreras’ bat hit his own coach, and the player also spiked his batting helmet and chucked a bucket of bubble gum from the dugout onto the field.
In the seventh inning of Cardinals’ 7-6 home win over Pittsburgh, Contreras went down on three pitches and was caught looking on strike three, a sinker at the bottom of the zone.
Contreras was ejected for arguing the call, and his outburst continued as Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol and hitting coach Brant Brown held him back from the umpire. After tossing his helmet onto the ground, Contreras tossed his bat behind him, hitting Brown in the arm. He finished it off with the bubble gum toss.
Marmol was also ejected during the sequence.
Contreras was also fined an undisclosed amount by MLB. He is appealing his suspension, which otherwise would have begun Tuesday against the Pirates.
Contreras, 33, is batting .261 with 19 home runs and 72 RBIs in 121 games this year for the sub-.500 Cardinals, who are trying to stay in the National League wild-card race. Contreras was a three-time All-Star during his seven-year stint with the Chicago Cubs and is a career .258 batter with 171 homers and 540 RBIs.
