Kansas City Royals And Chicago White Sox Figure In Wild Brawl

The Chicago White Sox and Kansas City Royals figured in a wild seventh-inning brawl after Chicago outfielder Adam Eaton and Kansas City pitcher Yordano Ventura exchanged words during the seventh inning of their April 23 game.

The Kansas City Royals and Chicago White Sox figured in a bench-clearing brawl on April 23.

According to The Kansas City Star’s Andy McCullough, it all started when Royals pitcher Yordano Ventura caught White Sox pitcher Adam Eaton’s grounder in the bottom of the seventh inning. Television cameras caught Ventura yelling an expletive at Eaton, who took exception and made his way toward Kansas City pitcher. 

Tempers flare, benches clear during @Royals–@WhiteSox game: http://t.co/3MWXH2cTCF pic.twitter.com/AjcUCjaHUW— MLB (@MLB) April 24, 2015

Umpires then stepped in to separate the two players. Royals third baseman Mike Moustakas was seen yanking Ventura from the mass of players building up near first base of U.S. Cellular Field, per McCullough.

The Kansas City Star describes what happened next:

“The players engaged in something resembling a rugby scum for several moments. Manager Ned Yost spoke with (White Sox Pitcher Chris) Sale. At some point (Royals center fielder Lorenzo) Cain and (White Sox pitcher Jeff) Samardzija found each other.

“Samardzija charged at Cain, who was being held back by hitting coach Dale Sveum. Samardzija missed Cain and bowled over third-base coach Mike Jirschele. As Samardzija went to the ground, Edinson Volquez swung at his head and missed with a wild haymaker.

“The pile shifted to the ground. Cain emerged with his jersey over his head, like a hockey player. White Sox utility man Emilio Bonifacio, a former Royal, played peacemaker by separating Kelvin Herrera, and later Ventura, from the fight.”

Nobody likes you @Royals pic.twitter.com/YrxFhySGGR— Mr. Wilson (@RobbieWilson21) April 24, 2015

MLB.com’s Scott Merkin reported in the aftermath of the brawl that officials tossed a total of five players from the game: Cain, Volquez, Ventura for Kansas City and Samardzija and Sale for Chicago.  

Tensions apparently escalated after several incidents in the preceeding innings.

Merkin notes Ventura hit White Sox first baseman Jose Abreu with a pitch in the fourth while Sale did the same thing to Moustakas an inning later.

After Moustakas got hit, officials warned both benches, per ESPN Chicago White Sox reporter Doug Padilla.  

The Royals and White Sox met earlier in Kansas City to kick off the 2015 MLB season, with the former sweeping the series. However, Padilla says a total of six players were hit by pitches during that span. 

In the 13th, @TheRealHos35 told @mrzoombiya it was time to come home: http://t.co/r2lNBod5DV #ForeverRoyal pic.twitter.com/lli1g2QBmv— Kansas City Royals (@Royals) April 24, 2015

After Thursday’s ejections, Kansas City leads the majors in that category with nine in all. The San Diego Padres, who are in second place, trail by a considerable margin with only three, per ESPN. 

The Royals, the 2014 American League champions, have been involved in several on-field incidents in the past two-and-a-half weeks, per The Chicago Tribune’s Coleen Kane. 

Major League Baseball fined Ventura an undisclosed amount and suspended Herrera for five games for their roles during several tense moments against the Oakland Athletics last weekend, per Kane.

Herrera threw a pitch above A’s third baseman Brett Lawrie’s head while Ventura hit Lawrie with one, The Chicago Tribune report goes on to say. 

The score was tied at 2-2 when the brawl occurred. Eric Hosmer’s RBI double in the top of the 13th inning propelled Kansas City to a 3-2 victory. The Royals improved to 12-4 while the White Sox dropped to 6-9 on the season, per Yahoo! Sports. 

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