Pirates reliever Dennis Santana receives 4-game suspension for swiping at fan in Detroit

Pittsburgh Pirates right-handed reliever Dennis Santana was suspended four games by MLB for taking a swipe at a fan from the bullpen Thursday night during the second game of a doubleheader at Detroit.

The suspension was scheduled to start Friday, when the Pirates host the Texas Rangers for the first game of a three-game series at PNC Park. MLB.com reported Santana will appeal the suspension, which won’t be enforced until after a hearing.

The incident happened while Santana was warming up in the bullpen at Comerica Park. Video cameras caught him jumping and taking a swipe at a fan from the bullpen before being pulled away. Santana faced one batter in the ninth inning before the game was interrupted 75 minutes by a rain delay.

Santana expressed regret about the incident afterward.

“He crossed the line, and I’d like to leave it at that,” Santana told reporters. “I’ve never had anything like this happen in my eight years in baseball.”

Pirates manager Don Kelly said it was out of character for Santana to act aggressively toward a fan. Tommy Pham later pointed out fans to security while standing in the on-deck circle in the 10th inning, and they were removed from the game.

“Everybody in here knows that Dennis Santana and how cool, calm, collected he is and what type of guy he is and I think that, as a player, looking back at my career, when you go into, on the road, you expect ribbing,” Kelly said. “You expect certain things to happen from a fan’s standpoint, but there’s a certain line that you can go up to and from my understanding, the line was crossed yesterday and I think it’s two different things.

“When we’re talking about the stands and what happens there, that’s not something that, I know that Dennis talked, maybe regrets a little bit about what happened, but with the line being crossed and we’re going to move forward from that.”