Braves Suspend Perez Without Pay

General Manager John Mullen of the Atlanta Braves said Tuesday that missing pitcher Pascual Perez was supposedly staying at an undisclosed hotel in New York and that the Braves were suspending Perez indefinitely without pay for leaving the team following a game against the New York Mets on Sunday.

Mullen said he still hadn’t been able to locate the pitcher but said Perez’s brother, Mario, had told the player’s agent that Pascual was in a hotel in New York.

The agent, Tom Reich, told Mullen that Mario Perez refused to identify the hotel but said he would ask his brother to get in touch with either Mullen, Reich or Bill Landmann, another of the player’s agents.

“He jumped the club so under the rules he had to be suspended,” Mullen said. “We hope he shows up today.”

The suspension was effective Monday, although the Braves did not notify the league and commissioner’s offices until Tuesday.

Perez, who had a 14-8 record in 1984 after missing all of spring training and the first month of the season when he was jailed in the Dominican Republic on drug charges, gave up seven runs and seven hits in a 15-10 loss to the Mets on Sunday. His record fell to 1-8 and his earned-run average soared to 6.52, highest among starting pitchers in the National League.

Perez has been placed on the disabled list twice this season because of an ailing right shoulder. He is playing under a one-year contract for a reported $450,000.