Aug 17, 2018 3 min read

Miami Marlins pitcher Jose Urena is appealing his six-game suspension for intentionally hitting Ronald Acuna Jr. of the Braves with a pitch.

Urena was in uniform Friday and Marlins manager Don Mattingly didn’t rule out using him this weekend against the Washington Nationals.

Major League Baseball announced the suspension and undisclosed fine Thursday, a day after Urena hit Acuna on the left arm with his first pitch in the Marlins’ 5-2 loss in Atlanta. Urena is eligible to play until the appeal process is complete.

“When I saw I hit a guy, I feel bad,” Urena said Friday. “I said something: ‘Hey, you’ll be OK.’ I said it in Spanish.”

The 20-year-old Acuna went into the game having homered in five straight games, including four homers in the three games against Miami – three of them leading off.

“I talked to him right after the game,” Mattingly said of Urena. “He said he was trying to run the ball close to him and that’s exactly what he told me. I just relay what he told me because we talked about it.”

The 25-year-old Urena, from the Dominican Republic, is 3-12 with a 4.74 ERA in 24 starts.

Acuna was back in the lineup for the Braves on Thursday night against Colorado. He went 1 for 4 with a stolen base.

“One thing I was happy about is that the kid’s all right,” Mattingly said.

If Urena pitched this weekend and then dropped his appeal on Monday, he would miss Miami’s series at home against the Braves on Aug. 23-26.

Philadelphia 4, N.Y. Mets 2: Aaron Nola struck out 11 in seven impressive innings to stay unbeaten at Citizens Bank Park, pitching the Philadelphia Phillies past the New York Mets 4-2.

Asdrubal Cabrera hit an RBI double off former teammate Noah Syndergaard during a three-run first inning, and Nola made the early lead stand up.

Nola (14-3) one run on three hits with one walk while lowering his ERA in 2.24. The All-Star is even better at home, improving to 9-0 with a 2.00 mark in 12 starts in Philadelphia this season.

Pat Neshek pitched a scoreless ninth for his third save in as many chances.

Washington 8, Miami 2: Max Scherzer pitched six scoreless innings for his major league-leading 16th win, and Ryan Zimmerman and Matt Wieters homered as the Washington Nationals beat the Miami Marlins 8-2.

After throwing seven shutout innings against the Cubs Sunday only to watch Chicago win on a walk-off grand slam, Scherzer (16-5) left with a 5-0 lead and watched as the Nationals thwarted a Marlins rally.

American League

Cleveland 2, Baltimore 1: Carlos Carrasco pitched seven scoreless innings and moved into a tie for the AL lead with his 15th win, Jose Ramirez hit his 37th home run and the Cleveland Indians beat the Baltimore Orioles 2-1 on Friday night.

Carrasco (15-6) allowed three hits, struck out six and retired his final 10 hitters. The right-hander is tied with teammate Corey Kluber, New York’s Luis Severino and Boston’s Rick Porcello for most wins in the league.

Ramirez’s first-inning homer tied him with Boston’s J.D. Martinez, who entered Friday with the major league lead.