WEEI.com’s Rob Bradford has learned that Red Sox pitcher Josh Beckett will appeal a six-game suspension that was handed down by Major League Baseball on Tuesday. MLB’s punishment came in response to a pitch thrown in the direction of Angels outfielder Bobby Abreu’s head during a game stoppage on Sunday.

Abreu had asked for time while Beckett repeatedly checked the runner (Chone Figgins) on second base. The pitcher was unaware that the umpire had granted Abreu’s request, and so was in mid-delivery when he realized it. Beckett completed his delivery, his pitch sailing over Abreu’s head and towards the backstop. Abreu shouted at the pitcher, and Beckett yelled back while moving towards the plate. The two were separated as the benches and bullpens emptied.

Beckett said afterwards that had no intention of hitting Abreu in the head, and that he simply wanted to complete his delivery. Major League Baseball chief of discipline Bob Watson interpreted the matter differently, resulting in the suspension. Here is the text of the press release from MLB:

Red Sox pitcher Josh Beckett has been suspended for six games and fined an undisclosed amount for intentionally throwing a pitch in the head area of the Angels’ Bobby Abreu and for his aggressive actions after the pitch that incited the bench-clearing incident. Beckett’s six-game suspension is scheduled to begin tonight, when Boston continues its series at Oakland; if he chooses to appeal, then his suspension will be held in abeyance until the process is complete.

Angels’ hitting coach Mickey Hatcher has been suspended for one game and fined an undisclosed amount for his aggressive actions during the incident. Hatcher’s suspension is scheduled to be served tonight, when the Angels play at Seattle.

In addition, undisclosed fines have been issued to Angels’ manager Mike Scioscia and players Torii Hunter and Justin Speier for their actions during the incident.

Had Beckett accepted the suspension, he would have been eligible to return on Tuesday, April 21, against the Twins. Because of Thursday’s off-day, all of the Sox starters except for Beckett could have stayed on a normal schedule of four days’ rest for their next turn. But with the decision to appeal, that is now moot.

Beckett is 1-1 with a 3.46 ERA and 15 strikeouts in 13 innings in his two starts this year.

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OAKLAND — While we should hear more Tuesday regarding the particulars of Jed Lowrie’s wrist injury (which has placed him on the 15-day disabled list), this is what we know …

Per Red Sox manager Terry Francona from his pre-game media briefing: 

“The only thing we have right now is that he was sent back for a bunch of tests so we can be a little more conclusive on what is going on. 

“They just want to get all the facts before they start telling us what’s going on.

“He showed up yesterday and said it was bothering him. I think the more we started talking to him and pushing a little bit, we realized we need to get this thing checked out. He had such a good spring. Then when you kind of push him and prod him a little bit he said it had started to bother him the last couple of weeks but didn’t say anything to him. On one hand we told, ‘Hey, you need to let us know.’ On the other hand that’s how players are and you kind of respect that.”

“Same area? Yeah. They’re getting a lot of good opinions. Their not sure, that’s why we sent him back.”

As for Lowrie’s replacement, Nick Green, it should be noted that he made an early impression with his throwing arm.

“Nick’s a solid baseball player,” said Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia of his new double-play partner. “He does a lot of things really well. He brings energy. He’s got an absolute cannon for an arm. Nick’s a good player. It’s huge for us when our two shortstops go down and these guys are ready to step in and do a good job. I played catch with him one time and he just about bruised my palm. I’m like, ‘I’m going to stop playing catch with him for a while.’”

Gil Velazquez, who, like Green, hits from the right side, found out that he was going to be catching a 6 a.m. flight upon arriving in Rochester with the Pawtucket Red Sox after playing all 15 innings of the PawSox’ Sunday tilt in Buffalo. The 6-foot-2 shortstop, who has been widely praised for his defensive abilities, was 4 for 18 with the PawSox.

In other notes:

- Dustin Pedroia, who has come under major scrutiny in the Oakland area because of comments made in a Boston Magazine article in which he calls his hometown of Woodland a “dump”, received a smattering of boos in his first at-bat.

- Casey Kelly, the Red Sox’ first selection (30th overall) in the 2008 draft made his professional pitching debut for Single A Greenville Sunday, allowing four hits with four strikeouts in five scoreless innings.

- Francona spoke fondly of Harry Kalas, the Philadelphia Phillies announcer who passed away suddenly Monday, remembering one of the lighter moments when Kalas served as the announcer for the Phillies’ fantasy football draft. “He did our first fantasy football draft,” Francona remembered. “That was incredible. We didn’t do a lot of good things there, but we did that good.”

- Monday marked the 12-year-0ld birthday of Wally the Green Monster.

- Chris Carter, who hails from nearby Fremont, is leaving 50 tickets for friends and family Tuesday.

Jed Lowrie, who has been sent back to Boston in order to undergo tests on his left wrist (the same one that suffered a non-displaced fracture last season), will be placed on the 15-day disabled list. The shortstop informed team officials about discomfort in the wrist on Sunday, but expressed that he had been dealing with the issue for a couple of weeks.

Throughout the spring, there were markers of significant progress in Lowrie’s recovery from an injury that rendered him ineffective as a left-handed hitter last September and October. The 24-year-old said that his left wrist was showing nearly identical strength to his right one at the start of spring training, and his gap-to-gap power as a left-handed hitter throughout the spring suggested as much.

But Lowrie got off to a dreadful 1-for-18 (.056) start at the plate this season, striking out in almost half (eight) of his at-bats. The trip to the disabled list suggests that it was not merely a slump.

Terry Francona:

Francona talked about the dissapointing loss, “We gave ourselves opportunities, we just couldn’t cash in.”

On Beckett/Abreu situation: There was no intent. It was one of those situations where Beckett was so late in his delievery that he couldn’t stop. It made it tough for the pitchers for the rest of the game because they lost the inside of the plate.

On Beckett: Francona said he thought Beckett had good stuff. The Angels just had some really good at bats. Francona wanted to go out and get an explanation on the balk call but said there is a MLB rule in place that forbids players and coaches to argue about a balk call.

Josh Beckett:

Beckett admitted it was a little frustrating that the Angels thought he was trying to hit Abreu in the head. “I have yet to hit someone in the head and it’s not on my list of Sh*t to do.”  Beckett explained that he was half way through his delivery already and didn’t want to stop because he could have seriously injured himself. “That pitch could’ve went anywhere. I know Bobby, he knows I’m not trying to hit him in the head.” Beckett said after the whole situation he talked with homeplate umpire Paul Schreiber about his concerns with losing the inside of the plate. Schreiber told him that he didn’t have to worry about losing the inside part of the plate.

Mike Lowell:

Lowell talked about the 2-0 pitch he flied out on with the bases loaded being the pitch he was looking for, “I was looking for one pitch, I got it, took a good swing, the result just wasn’t there. If I was in the same situation I would swing at that pitch again.”

JD DREW

Drew said that he thought the pitch where he struck out looking was out of the zone and a real tough pitch to handle.

On the bench clearing incident in the first: “That’s baseball. It’s Easter. I guess the guys just wanted to get together. That’s going to happen. Tempers are going to flare. I don’t think there was any intentions by Beckett but I guess a ball at your head kind of wakes you up a little bit.”

ANGELS

Mike Scioscia

Scioscia thought Beckett was throwing at Abreu intentionally, “That was as flagrant as anything I’ve ever seen in the game.” Scioscia was particulary upset at the fact that the Angels had four players ejected while the Red Sox had none, “Both benches emptied and yet we had four guys ejected and they had none.”

Bobby Abreu:

After the game Abreu said he was unsure if Beckett saw the umpire call for time or not but said “I stepped away, if i wasn’t paying attention that could’ve hit me in the head.”Abreu didn’t want to go into too much detail about the situation.

Tori Hunter

Hunter admitted “things got out of hand ” and he should’ve handled his actions better. Hunter was more upset with the umpires then the Red Sox. “A lot of words were said and not from the Red Sox”, Hunter said.

UMPIRES

Crew Chief Joe West

“The Angels were the aggressors. That’s why they were ejected. They were
the aggressors and Beckett was warned. We even charged the Red Sox with
a trip to the mound, because the manager and the pitching coach were
standing there when we separated everybody. They weren’t happy about
that either, so we had everybody mad at us.”

West said that Tori Hunter got too aggressive on the field and threatened to fight Beckett.

West went on to say that he was dissapointed at the way things transpired,

“I’m disappointed that, on Easter
Sunday, we had to have some bad blood. I feel bad about that. No one
likes those kinds of situations. All that can happen is somebody could
get hurt. They need to be more responsible and they need to realize
you’re out there to win a contest, you’re not out there to be a
chauvinist. That’s the whole issue.”

The Red Sox regular season woes against the Angels continue in 09. The Angels took two out of three against the Sox this past weekend that included a win against Red Sox ace Josh Beckett. The Sox bats haven’t been able to produce many runs on anything besides the long ball. Beckett wasn’t his normal self this afternoon but still managed to keep his team in the game. There were plenty of opportunities to tie or take the lead but the team’s offense was unable to take advantage leaving a total of 10 men on base. Okajima gave up a big homerun to Vlad Guerrero in the 8th and that proved to be the insurance the Angels needed.  The Angels took the game 5-4.

Jon Lester will make his second start of the season tomorrow against Oakland. Dalls Braden will take the mound for the A’s.

Down one run with the bases loaded and one out Mike Lowell popped out to 3rd on a 2-0 pitch. Varitek followed with a lined shot directly to center fielder Gary Matthews Jr. The Sox have left eight men on base so far.  The Sox are currently trailing 5-3 with Nick Green, Jacoby Ellsbury, and Dustin Pedroia due up in the ninth.

All three Red Sox starters went six innings during this series with the Angels. Beckett was able to pitch himself out of a big jam in the bottom of the 6th. The Angels bats didn’t seemed fooled by the Red Sox ace managing 8 hits off the righty. Beckett faced 26 batters and threw 103 pitches, 61 for strikes. Here is Josh Beckett’s final line:

6IP 8H 4R 4ER 2BB 5K’s  3.46Season ERA

Manny Delcarmen is in to pitch the 7th.