<p>ANAHEIM, Calif. — Minnesota Twins reliever Tyler Duffey was suspended for three games and manager Rocco Baldelli received a one-game ban Thursday for intentionally throwing behind Yermín Mercedes of the Chicago White Sox in a sequence of events that sparked a debate on the importance of the unwritten rules of baseball.</p>
<p>Baldelli will miss the second game of the Twins’ makeup doubleheader against the Los Angeles Angels on Thursday.</p>
<p>Duffey appealed his ban, and the Angels pounded him for four hits and three runs in the fifth inning of the first game.</p>
<p>Duffey was ejected Tuesday night when he threw behind Mercedes in the seventh inning.</p>
<p>The Twins were responding to Mercedes’ homer on a 3-0 pitch while Chicago had an 11-run lead a day earlier. White Sox manager Tony La Russa scolded his rookie slugger Monday for trying to get a hit in that situation, calling him “clueless.”</p>
<p>The 76-year-old La Russa also said he was fine with the Twins’ actions on Tuesday. Several White Sox players spoke up in defense of Mercedes and in conflict with the old-school beliefs espoused by their manager and the Twins.</p>
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