Lee suspended for first five games of 2010

[cruzg24]

PEORIA, Ariz. -- The imposing one-two punch at the top of the Mariners' starting rotation appears to be on hold for a while.

Cliff Lee's extracurricular activities in Tucson, Ariz., on Monday were penalized Wednesday, when Major League Baseball announced that the pitcher has been issued a five-game suspension, effective at the start of the regular season. Lee, who declined to comment on the issue Wednesday afternoon, was ejected for throwing at Arizona catcher Chris Snyder in the third inning, an incident that emptied both benches. With the suspension comes immediate confusion for the Mariners.

The 2008 American League Cy Young Award-winning left-hander, expected to be the team's No. 2 starter behind last year's Cy Young runner-up, Felix Hernandez, was on schedule to pitch in Oakland on April 6.

Lee will appeal the decision, general manager Jack Zduriencik said, and if the appeal is denied, Lee will have to wait until at least April 10 at Texas. In that situation, Hernandez will have to wait an extra day to pitch April 11, and their spots in the rotation will be flipped.

Either way, the Mariners are going to have to rearrange their starting rotation after Hernandez faces the A's on Opening Day.

"It is what it is," Zduriencik said. "[I'm] a little bit surprised [at the suspension], but in the end, I don't think we'll have a whole lot of comments on it."

With two outs and a runner on second base, Lee threw a pitch that sailed right over the head of Snyder, who walked out of the batter's box toward Lee as the two exchanged words.

Home-plate umpire Brian Knight immediately ejected Lee and both dugouts and bullpens emptied toward the mound, but no punches were thrown.

The incident appeared to be related to a confrontation between the two in the first inning, when Lee ran to cover home plate on a Chris Young RBI single and ran into Snyder, causing him to fall down.

Lee stated that he didn't intend to throw the ball at Snyder at all.

"I was trying to go inside, a couple got away from me, and the guy hitting got mad and came towards the mound and I got thrown out of the game in the process," Lee said. "That's it in a nutshell."

Lee said he didn't think the first-inning collision was anything to mention, either, since he wasn't aware of how it happened in the first place.

"All I know was I was rolling on the ground," Lee said. "I got knocked down. I didn't see it all. I was looking at the play."

Source: mlb.com

Weird....