Chapman successfully appeals 1-game suspension for shoving Freeland

SAN FRANCISCO -- The Giants will have their starting third baseman in action for Friday night’s series opener against the Dodgers.

Matt Chapman, who had received a one-game suspension for pushing Rockies left-hander Kyle Freeland in a benches-clearing incident on Sept. 2 at Coors Field, had the punishment reduced to a fine after issuing a successful appeal.

“Chapman’s one-game suspension was dropped as part of a settlement agreement with the Commissioner’s Office that will require him to pay a fine," an MLB official said in a statement.

Freeland and Giants veterans Willy Adames and Rafael Devers were also fined for their roles in the fracas. Tempers flared between the National League West foes after Freeland felt Devers took too long admiring his two-run blast in the first inning of the Giants’ 7-4 win. Freeland and Devers exchanged words before the benches cleared, leading to ejections for Freeland, Adames and Chapman.

Chapman was the only player who came away with a suspension, though he always felt that he had a strong case to get it dropped. While he didn’t have to go through a full appeal hearing on Thursday, he planned to argue that he essentially already missed a game since he was tossed in the top of the first inning and didn’t even get to take a plate appearance.

“I didn’t start it,” Chapman said. “I felt like Freeland started it by jawing at Devers. I was just going out there to try to defend my teammate. I wasn’t going out there to try to start a fight. I was the only one that got suspended, so I don’t think that that was probably fair, among other things. But we don’t really have to get into it. It’s in the past now.”

“Based on the fact that nobody else got suspended for a day, we felt like there was a pretty good chance [of winning the appeal],” manager Bob Melvin said. “So all along, it’s something he wanted to do and felt good about. It seems like it’s the right thing.”

The Giants were certainly happy to have Chapman in their starting lineup on Friday, as they’ll need to be at their best to continue to stay in the thick of the National League Wild Card race. San Francisco entered Friday 1 1/2 games behind the Mets for the third spot, though it’s effectively 2 1/2 games since they don’t hold the tiebreaker.

“Anytime we play the Dodgers, it’s a big one,” Chapman said. “But obviously, we know what’s at stake here. They’re in first place. We’re battling for the Wild Card spot. They’re battling to stay in first place, so everybody’s got stuff on the line. We can’t get too far ahead of ourselves. We need to treat each game like it’s a playoff game for us, because it pretty much is. We’ve got to win a lot of games to be able to go where we want to go.”