Cards' Carpenter serving one-game suspension Tuesday vs. Jays
NEW YORK -- St. Louis first baseman Matt Carpenter was suspended for one game and fined by Major League Baseball on Tuesday for making contact with umpire John Tumpane following his ejection last weekend.
Carpenter was called out on strikes by Tumpane during the seventh inning of Sunday's game at Milwaukee. Carpenter threw his bat and was ejected. Manager Mike Matheny came onto the field and argued, and he also was tossed.
The discipline was announced by Joe Torre, MLB's chief baseball officer.
"Obviously it's disappointing to lose a player, but the rule is pretty simple, if you make contact with an umpire you receive a suspension," Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak said. "I talked to him briefly. He asked what his odds were if he appealed it of it being reduced. I said very little, so we just thought it was in our best interests to take it now."
A three-time All-Star, Carpenter is batting .236 with two homers and five RBIs.
Carpenter was batting second for the first time this season in Tuesday's initial lineup. He was replaced at first base by Matt Adams.
Carpenter had been dealing with a sore finger since hurting it while fielding a bad hop on April 16.
"The benefit you can take is an extra day to help that finger to get that pain and swelling out of it and move forward," Matheny said.
