San Francisco Giants pitcher Hunter Strickland began serving a six-game suspension Monday for brawling with Bryce Harper after his appeal was denied by Major League Baseball. Strickland plunked Harper on the right hip with a 98 mph fastball, igniting an eighth-inning fight that ended with Strickland being dragged to the Giants dugout by several teammates. John McHale Jr., a special assistant to baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred, denied Strickland's appeal, which means the pitcher will miss all four games of a series set to begin Monday in Atlanta against the Braves, as well as the first two games of a weekend series in San Francisco against the New York Mets.