Ortiz, Gregg suspended four games for brawl

Red Sox slugger David Ortiz and Baltimore pitcher Kevin Gregg were suspended four games and fined yesterday for their parts in a July 8 bench-clearing brawl.

Orioles pitcher Mike Gonzalez was suspended three games, and manager Buck Showalter was suspended one game as part of the punishment handed out by Major League Baseball. Gregg and Gonzalez have decided to appeal, delaying the suspensions; Ortiz was not immediately available for comment.

"I'll let the process go out," said Gregg, who did not reveal the amount of his fine except to say it was "steep." "The four-game [ban] is a pretty hefty suspension. I get the right to meet in New York with some people, tell them how it went down, what happened, get to say my side of the story."

The Red Sox did not play yesterday, and manager Terry Francona said Ortiz was excused from the team's workout in St. Petersburg, Fla., to give him an extra day to recover from the All-Star Game.

Showalter sat out last night's game against the Cleveland Indians. He was replaced by bench coach John Russell.

Indians 8, Orioles 4: Asdrubal Cabrera and Carlos Santana homered, and Justin Masterson struck out eight in six innings as visiting Cleveland handed Baltimore its eighth straight loss. Cabrera and Santana connected in a three-run first against Jeremy Guthrie (3-13). Masterson (8-6) gave up four runs and eight hits while improving to 3-0 in his last three starts.

Twins 8, Royals 4: Trevor Plouffe hit a two-run homer, Delmon Young had three hits, and Francisco Liriano (6-7) went seven innings for host Minnesota.

-- AP