MLB upholds 14-game suspension for Blue Jays hitting coach

TORONTO -- Major League Baseball upheld Toronto hitting coach Brook Jacoby's 14-game suspension for getting into a fracas with an umpire, which prompted the former All-Star player to say he didn't deserve such a "harsh" penalty.

Jacoby was accused of putting his forearms near umpire Doug Eddings' neck and pinning him against a wall in a dugout tunnel at Fenway Park after the Blue Jays fell to Boston 4-1 on April 29.

MLB executive Joe Torre issued the suspension Monday, and Jacoby immediately began serving the ban. Jacoby appealed, and there was a hearing Friday, in which the penalty stood.

"Unfortunately, there was a verbal altercation with the umpiring crew following a tough loss in Boston," Jacoby said in a statement released by the Blue Jays. "Frustrations escalated, leading to an altercation in which I was wrongly accused of contacting an umpire in the runway following our game. I'm in no way going to apologize for what happened and feel that the penalties were very biased, harsh and unfair."

The trouble in Boston started after Russell Martin was called out on strikes by Adrian Johnson to end the Blue Jays' loss in the series finale.

At Fenway Park, umpires exit through the visitors dugout and share a narrow tunnel with the players to their respective locker rooms. As the umps and Blue Jays were leaving, words were exchanged, and the situation became more tense.

Blue Jays manager John Gibbons was fined an undisclosed amount for actions that ramped up the dispute.

Following the incident, MLB sent a memo instructing visiting teams at Fenway to remain in the dugout until the umpires have exited.

The 55-year-old Jacoby was a two-time All-Star third baseman. He played most of his 11 seasons with Cleveland and retired in 1992.

NOTES: The Blue Jays recalled right-hander Ryan Tepera from Triple-A Buffalo and optioned right-hander Chad Jenkins to the minor league team.

Tepera was 1-1 with a 0.57 ERA in eight games at Buffalo, where he recorded 17 strikeouts and five walks in 15 innings.

Jenkins was promoted to Toronto on May 5 and pitched in one game, a two-inning stint Tuesday against the Yankees.