Toronto Blue Jays’ Alek Manoah suspended five games for throwing at Baltimore Orioles’ Maikel Franco

Toronto Blue Jays rookie right-hander Alek Manoah has been suspended five games and fined for throwing at Baltimore Orioles third baseman Maikel Franco on Saturday and triggering a benches-clearing altercation, MLB senior vice president for on-field operations Michael Hill announced Tuesday.

Blue Jays manager Charlie Montoyo received a one-game suspension and will serve it Tuesday when Toronto plays at Miami. Manoah is appealing his suspension.

Manoah was ejected from Saturday’s game for hitting Franco after surrendering back-to-back home runs in the fourth inning. After allowing a two-run homer to Ryan Mountcastle and a solo homer to DJ Stewart — his third and fourth allowed in the game — Manoah plunked Franco on the left shoulder on the first pitch, prompting the benches and bullpens to empty, though no punches were thrown. Once the situation cooled down, the umpires conferred and ejected Manoah.

The 24-year-old pitcher said he threw several sliders to Franco in an earlier at-bat and shook off a sign for another, opting instead for a fastball. He said he was told by the umpires that his ejection stemmed from “bad timing.”

“I tried to get that fastball in, and it slipped away,” Manoah said. “I was confused by his reaction. I was questioning, ‘What’s going on? What’s wrong?’ Those were my hand gestures as I was walking toward him. I didn’t understand the frustration there.”

Manoah is 1-0 with a 4.18 ERA in five starts for the Blue Jays this season.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.