Royals' Kelvin Herrera suspended five games for throwing at Brett Lawrie

Kansas City pitcher Kelvin Herrera was suspended five games and fined an undisclosed amount for on-field incidents in the team's series this past weekend against Oakland.

Major League Baseball has suspended Kansas City Royals reliever Kelvin Herrera five games and fined him an undisclosed amount in the wake of on-field incidents during the team's series this past weekend against the Oakland Athletics, the league announced Tuesday. It also fined Royals starter Yordano Ventura an undisclosed amount. According to the Kansas City Star's Andy McCullough, Herrera will appeal his suspension.

Herrera threw a pitch behind Brett Lawrie during the eighth inning of Sunday's game between the two teams. After the play, Herrera was ejected, as was Kansas City bench coach Don Wakamatsu and shortstop Alcides Escobar. Earlier in the game, a pitch from Oakland's Scott Kazmir hit outfielder Lorenzo Cain in the lower leg. Both benches were warned, and Royals manager Ned Yost and pitching coach Dave Eiland were ejected from the game. Ventura hit Lawrie with a pitch during Saturday's game.

• TAYLER: Did Royals go too far in retaliating against Lawrie?

Tensions first boiled over Friday when Lawrie slid hard into Escobar. Escobar stayed on the ground for several seconds and eventually had to be helped off the field with a knee sprain.

In 5 2/3 innings this year, Herrera has yielded three hits and no runs, striking out six batters. Ventura is 2–1 with a 4.80 ERA in three starts so far.