Houston pitcher Russ Springer was suspended for four games Friday after throwing several times at Barry Bonds and eventually hitting the San Francisco star earlier this week.

Astros manager Phil Garner was suspended for one game and fined an undisclosed amount by Major League Baseball.

The strange sequence Tuesday began when Bonds led off the fifth inning of the Giants' 14-3 win. Springer's first pitch went behind the seven-time NL MVP's back, drawing a warning from plate umpire Joe West.

The next three pitches all came inside, including one that hit Bonds' bat handle for strike one. On the fifth pitch of the at-bat, Springer hit Bonds in the right shoulder. Springer and Garner were then ejected, and the Houston crowd gave Springer a standing ovation. Bonds took his base without incident.

"I don't think that Russ was throwing at him," Garner said. "I think that the first couple of pitches were indicative of him trying to get the ball in on him.

"Obviously when you hit a guy in the shoulder it doesn't look good. But he was trying to pitch it in. We hadn't been able to get the balls where we wanted to," he said.