Mets pitcher Rodriguez suspended after arrest

By Daniel Trotta

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The New York Mets suspended four-time All-Star reliever Francisco Rodriguez for two games on Thursday after his arrest on suspicion of assaulting his 53-year-old father-in-law inside the Mets' ballpark.

He was released without bail on Thursday after his arraignment on misdemeanor charges of assault and harassment that could result in up to a year in jail, the Queens County District Attorney's office said in a statement.

Rodriguez, known as K-Rod, was taken into custody at the Mets ballpark Citi Field after Wednesday's game, a 6-2 loss to Colorado Rockies, during which Rodriguez grew visibly upset that he was not summoned from the bullpen to pitch.

Prosecutors said his wife, Daian Pena, witnessed the altercation in a hallway outside a room reserved for players' families, reporting that Rodriguez asked her father to step out of the room and into the hall.

Rodriguez attempted to leave the ballpark in his white Lamborghini but was called back to the clubhouse where he was arrested, the New York Post reported.

Police said he was locked up in a holding cell inside the ballpark because it may have been dangerous to take a famous athlete to jail.

The 28-year-old, Venezuela-born Rodriguez was placed on the restricted list and will be held out of at least the next two games, the Mets said in a statement.

"Ownership and the organization are very disappointed in Francisco's inappropriate behavior and we take this matter very seriously," Mets chief operating officer Jeff Wilpon said in a statement.

Rodriguez is in the second year of a three-year, $37 million contract that includes a team option to pay him $17.5 million for a fourth season in 2012 or buy him out for $3.5 million, according to baseball-reference.com.

He will not be paid for the two days of his suspension.

(Reporting by Daniel Trotta. Editing by Steve Ginsburg)