MLB Bench-Clearing Brawl: Royals vs. White Sox, Multiple Players Ejected
The Kansas City Royals have been in the news more than once this week in regards to having their benches cleared for a brawl.
According to NBC Sports, on Sunday, the Royals were playing the Athletics when a Brett Lawrie through a slider that hit Alcides Escobar. But Yordano Ventura started on April 18 and, following a nasty fourth inning in which he had given up five runs, he took revenge on behalf of Escobar and beaned Oakland's Lawrie with a fastball.
Thursday, the matter got out of hand again for Kansas City, but this time when they were playing the Chicago White Sox.
To put this into perspective, the Royals did enter the game having already been hit 16 times with a pitch, which is only the second most next to the Texas Rangers.
So in the bottom of the fourth inning, Ventura hit Chicago's first baseman Jose Abreu with a 99 mph fastball. That did not start the brawl though. It was the top of the fifth inning that Chris Sale hit Mike Moustakas with an 86 mph change-up, an odd type of pitch to hit a batter with to say the least. But one can't exactly say that Sale was trying to get retribution for Abreu, considering he already had a 0-2 count on the batter.
But still, all was calm -- at least until Ventura was finishing out the seventh inning. Adam Eaton hit a knockback to Ventura, and he could have easily gotten him out on the play. But instead, he taunted him on his way to first base, then threw him out.
Eaton was especially unhappy with Ventura's words and that is when the benches and bullpens cleared. Jeff Samardzija was being taunted by Lorenzo Cain and as he closed in, he was tackled.
There was a bunch of pushing and shoving before five players were ejected, which included Ventura, Samardzija, Cain, Sale and Edinson Volquez. The players can expect league fines for the fiasco.
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