Montas Scratched vs. Giants; Laureano Begins Serving Suspension, now at 4 Games

Athletics starter Frankie Montas was scratched from Friday's start because of upper back tightness with Jesús Luzardo stepping into the start. And Ramón Laureano. after getting word that his suspension was cut from six games to four, will be out for the entire Giants series.

The A’s will be without center fielder Ramón Laureano, as expected, Friday night as the A’s open a three-game series against the Giants in Oracle Park.

After having his suspension for his part in last Sunday’s Coliseum brawl with the Astros reduced from six games to four Friday, Laureano will miss the entire series plus the first game against the Diamondbacks in Arizona on Monday.

Oakland will have a 27-man roster for the time Laureano is out; under MLB rules, players suspended cannot be replaced on the roster.

And the A’s will be without Frankie Montas, too. Montas was supposed to start Friday against the Giants, but he’s been scratched because of upper back tightness. Jesús Luzardo will start in place of Montas, and because the A’s had a day off Thursday, Luzardo will be pitching on regular rest.

ESPN’s Jeff Passan was the first to report that MLB had reduced Laureano’s suspension by two games. Because the suspension will be served against the Giants and Diamondbacks – the A’s are on the road, then home in back-to-back series next week – that means it won’t impact any games against American League West competition.

Last year, Mark Canha moved into center field when Laureano was either injured or playing in right field for Stephen Piscotty. Canha is expected to start there for most, if not all, of these four games. It was Robbie Grossman who took over for Laureano last Sunday after he’d been ejected, but in that case, Canha was already in the lineup as the DH, and the A’s would have had to give up the DH if Canha had been moved to center.

Tony Kemp could play center, too, but the change for the second baseman is likely to be his moving into Laureano’s No. 2 spot from the bottom of the lineup.

Laureano and Astros batting coach Alex Cintrón were the only players suspended in the brawl, which started after Laureano was hit by a pitch for the third time in the three-game series last weekend. He was hit by a pitch, and after exchanging some words with pitcher Humberto Castellanos, he took his place at first base.

While he was on the bag, Cintrón began yelling at him. Laureano said Cintrón, who didn’t appeal the 20-game suspension he was hit with, talked badly about Laureano’s mother. Cintrón denied talking about Laureano’s mother but didn’t overall dispute what happened.

Laureano took time on a Monday video conference call to say he regretted his role in the brawl, which in 2020 is in violation of MLB’s health and safety protocols.

“I guess there’s an unwritten rule that you can’t be doing that, as a coach,” Laureano said Monday of Cintrón’s role in the brawl. “So yeah, I guess it wasn’t smart for him to do that. Hey, I’m a man, I’m a freaking man. Whatever happens, happens, I’ll take it. I couldn’t keep my cool and I should have. And I wasted my time with that guy.”

“It’ll always be tough, trying to replace Ramón for however long he’s out, but I think our lineup is so deep,” A’s assistant hitting coach Eric Martins on a video conference call with the media Tuesday. “Guys are having good at-bats and starting to figure some things out and starting to get back into the routine and get back to who they are. I think we’ll be OK.

“Marcus (Semien) is starting to have great at-bats, you have Tony (Kemp) you can slide in there if you wanted to, because he’s going to get on base and be able to handle the bat. So, we have some depth and we have a lot of flexibility with what we can do.”

Friday will be Luzardo’s third career start, and his first-ever appearance against the Giants

Follow Athletics insider John Hickey on Twitter: @JHickey3

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