ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) New York Yankees pitcher CC Sabathia was ejected for hitting Jesus Sucre on a leg in retaliation for Tampa Bay reliever Andrew Kittredge throwing an inside pitch at Austin Romine, possibly costing the left-hander a $500,000 bonus based on innings.
With New York ahead 7-0 Thursday, Sabathia hit Jake Bauers around a hand with two outs in the fifth.
Kittredge threw his initial pitch in the sixth high and tight to Romine, and plate umpire Vic Carapazza issued a warning to both benches.
New York opened an 11-0 lead and Sabathia hit Sucre on his first pitch in the bottom half, causing Capapazza to eject the pitcher and Yankees manager Aaron Boone.
Sabathia stared toward the Tampa Bay side of the field while walking to the Yankees dugout on the third-base side after being tossed. Relievers in both bullpens stood up but the other players remained in the dugouts.
Sabathia had thrown 55 pitches and the five innings raised his season total to 153 – two shy of a $500,000 performance bonus in his contract for reaching 155 innings.
The 38-year-old left-hander entered 8-7 and lowered his ERA to 3.65. He has a $10 million base salary in his one-year contract.
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