Rangers reliever Tanner Scheppers told reporters he was sucker-punched by a group of males after having dinner on Thursday night in Cleveland, thus explaining his suddenly-bruised left eye and the cuts on his face. But that might not be the actual story.

A witness to Scheppers’ supposed sucker punch told Clevescene.com that the incident happened at 2:30 a.m. — not anywhere near dinner time — and that Scheppers was accompanied by teammates Joe Nathan and A.J. Pierzynski, along with “a bunch of girls.” Scheppers, according to the witness, was a “verbal instigator” and there was some jawing back and forth for a few minutes before a punch got thrown.



“He lost a bar fight,” the witness, whose exact level of involvement is unclear, explained to Vince Grzegorek of Clevescene.com on Sunday morning. “He had 10 chances to walk away before this happened.”

The 6-foot-4 right-hander will undoubtedly have to field questions about this account of the incident on Sunday evening, after the Rangers wrap up their weekend series against the Indians at Progressive Field.

Scheppers, 26, has an impressive 1.74 ERA and 1.07 WHIP in 46 2/3 innings of relief this season.

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UPDATE, 5:21 p.m. ET: Here’s a statement from the Cleveland Police, via the Dallas Morning News: