Los Angeles Dodgers third baseman Justin Turner received a one-game suspension and an undisclosed fine from Major League Baseball on Tuesday for making contact with home plate umpire Rob Drake in Monday night’s game against the San Diego Padres.
Turner will appeal the suspension that was announced Tuesday by Joe Torre, MLB’s chief baseball officer.
Turner, batting with two outs in the top of the ninth, made compact with Drake when the umpire’s called third strike ended Monday’s game, a 4-3 loss to the Padres.
“I asked him, ‘You call that a strike?’” Turner said in a Los Angeles Times article. “He told me it was right down the middle, which was pretty upsetting. If he thinks that’s down the middle …. no matter, he was missing a lot of pitches throughout the night.
“And then he walks into me and told me not to bump him, which also upsets me. I’m not trying to bump him or touch him in any way, but when you walk into me, and then cry foul like I hit you or something, is brutal.”
Turner collected a double and home run among three hits Monday, and is batting .294 with 24 home runs and 61 RBIs heading into Tuesday’s action.