BlueBaron

ATLANTA -- When the Braves learned Thursday that Major League Baseball had issued Rafael Soriano a four-game suspension, they reacted both with surprise and disgust.

As for Soriano, he reacted by appealing the suspension that came as a result of him hitting Dan Uggla with a pitch during the ninth inning of Monday's win over the Marlins. Thus, the Atlanta closer will remain available at least until he's able to tell MLB his version of the story.

"It shocked me," Braves manager Bobby Cox said. "I don't know where that came from. It's a huge surprise. ... There was no warning, no bad blood, no nothing."

Braves general manager John Schuerholz said Soriano's appeal hasn't been scheduled. In addition, he added that he doesn't know if the suspension can carry over to next season.

"Four games is crazy," Andruw Jones said. "It wasn't the first pitch. Nobody got kicked out of the game, and there was no fight."

After getting hit in the left shoulder with Soriano's 1-0 pitch, Uggla stared toward the mound and then later told reporters there was definite intent. Home-plate umpire Ron Kulpa, who issued warnings to both benches after this incident, shared the Marlins second baseman's thoughts and expressed this in his report to MLB.

"[Kulpa] doesn't know what I was trying to do," Soriano said. "I was trying to throw inside, and the ball moved. I don't have control over that."

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