Houston Astros hitting coach Alex Cintron has been suspended for 20 games due to his role in sparking a bench-clearing incident with the Oakland A’s. Cintron and Oakland A’s outfielder Ramon Laureano, who was suspended for six games, got into a verbal altercation after Laureno was hit for the second time in their game, and Laureano charged the Astros’ bench after Cintron reportedly made comments to Laureano about Laureano’s mother.
Laureano has since said “I regret charging him because he’s a loser,” and there has been a good deal of consternation among MLB players over what is perceived as MLB protecting the Astros from retaliation from teams unhappy that the Astros cheated, and that their players didn’t pay a price for cheating.