Galarraga and Cook Suspended

Andres Galarraga of Colorado and Dennis Cook of Florida received three-game suspensions for their roles in a bench-clearing incident Saturday.

Both players appealed and will remain eligible to play until their cases are heard by league president Leonard Coleman.

Cook was fined $1,000 and Galarraga an undisclosed amount.

The suspension of Cook surprised the Marlins because only Galarraga was ejected after the incident, which came four innings after he hit a 529-foot homer, the longest in years in the major leagues.

“The appeal process is for situations like this,” Cook said. “Then Mr. Coleman can decide what he wants to do. At least I’ll have my say.”

When a pitch by Cook hit Galarraga on the elbow, the Rockie slugger charged the mound and the two players tumbled to the ground. Both benches emptied, but order was quickly restored.

The Rockies claimed Cook hit Galarraga intentionally. Cook has denied it.

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Gregg Jefferies, in one of the longest hitting slumps of his career, was benched by the Philadelphia Phillies.

Phillie Manager Terry Francona said Jefferies will be replaced at leadoff by Ricky Otero.

Jefferies was a career .296 hitter coming into the season, but he is hitting only .235 this season and .195 with runners in scoring position.

Francona didn’t put a timetable on how long Jefferies will be on the bench.

“I don’t know if this is the right thing or not, but I just think it will help,” Francona said. “This isn’t punishment for Jefferies. In my mind, this is to make things better for him.”