Brawl yields seven suspensions, head injury

Seven players were suspended and another was forced to the disabled list with a head injury on Friday in the aftermath of a 20-minute benches-clearing brawl earlier this week in New Hampshire.

Pirates slugger Stetson Allie was placed on Double-A Altoona's seven-day disabled list with a concussion stemming from the fracas on Wednesday night during the Curve's 6-5 loss to the Fisher Cats. The move is retroactive to Thursday.

The Eastern League on Friday suspended five players from Altoona and two from New Hampshire: Curve outfielder Keon Broxton, third baseman Jarek Cunningham, infielder Gift Ngoepe, utilityman Andy Vasquez and left-hander Yao-Hsun Yang were banned for three games apiece, as were Fisher Cats right-hander Dustin Antolin and infielder K.C. Hobson for their roles in the fight.

Eight players and New Hampshire manager Bobby Meacham were ejected following the melee on Wednesday night at Northeast Delta Dental Stadium in Manchester, New Hampshire. Allie, a converted first baseman who was the Pirates' second-round pick in 2010 as a pitcher, was at the center of the drama. The 23-year-old homered in the fourth inning, then was hit by a pitch in the back in his next at-bat by New Hampshire's Daniel Norris, the Blue Jays' No. 4 prospect who was making his Double-A debut.

With two outs in the bottom of the sixth, Altoona got payback when New Hampshire's Andy Burns -- who hit a two-run homer in the fourth -- was struck on the foot by Curve starter Andy Dodson's first pitch. That prompted a warning to both teams.

After New Hampshire reliever Arik Sikula plunked Cunningham with the second pitch of the seventh inning, Cunningham charged the mound. Both benches emptied and it took some 20 minutes to restore order.

Cunningham, Ngoepe and Broxton were ejected along with Sikula, Hobson, Antolin and New Hampshire teammates Mike McDade and Yusuf Carter.

Altoona said its players would not all serve their suspensions at the same time. Yang was scheduled to start the resumption of a suspended game on Friday.