Boston’s Youkilis, Detroit’s Porcello suspended 5 games each following confrontation

Youkilis, Porcello suspended 5 games for brawl

NEW YORK — Boston star Kevin Youkilis and Detroit pitcher Rick Porcello were suspended for five games each Wednesday and fined by Major League Baseball, a day after their brawl at Fenway Park.

Youkilis will begin his suspension during Wednesday night’s game against Detroit. Porcello appealed, and no penalty will take effect until the process is complete.

“Basically, I left everything in the hands of the front office,” Youkilis said. “Whatever they thought was best for the team was good for me.”

Youkilis leads the Red Sox in getting hit by pitches this season with 10 and was tied for fourth in the AL entering Wednesday.

“I don’t have any regrets,” he said. “There comes a point in your life when you can only take so much. When people don’t do things in the right manner, you get kind of fed up with it and you have to do what you have to do in life to protect yourself. I take one ball off the eye, my career could be over.”

MLB vice president Bob Watson cited Youkilis for charging the mound, throwing his helmet at Porcello and inciting Tuesday night’s bench-clearing tussle. Porcello was penalized for intentionally throwing pitches at Victor Martinez in the first inning and Youkilis in the second.

In addition, Detroit pitched Edwin Jackson was fined for what Watson said were aggressive actions.

Players from benches and bullpens went onto the field and Youkilis tackled Porcello, but no punches were thrown. Youkilis and Porcello were ejected.

Tempers had been escalating since Monday night, when Miguel Cabrera was hit in the top of the fourth and Youkilis was plunked in the bottom half; Detroit’s Brandon Inge was hit in the eighth.

On Tuesday, Cabrera was hit in the left hand in the top of the first by Junichi Tazawa. When Porcello threw an inside pitch to Martinez in the bottom, he took a few menacing steps toward the mound before returning to the batter’s box.

After the game, Porcello made a brief statement after emerging from a meeting with manager Jim Leyland and general manager Dave Dombrowski.

“The only thing I have to say about that is I was not intentionally trying to hit Kevin Youkilis. It was unintentional,” he said, refusing to further answer questions.

Youkilis led off the second inning and was hit in the back with the first pitch. He dropped his bat and ran toward Porcello, missing the pitcher with his batting helmet before wrapping him up and bringing him to the ground.

Boston, trailing 3-0 at the time, tied the score later in the inning on Jason Bay’s three-run homer off Chris Lambert and went on to win 7-5.