For the third straight game, the Oakland A’s and Kansas City Royals getting together clears the benches, making the scoreline, hits and usually other important baseball statistics redundant in this case.
The game was red hot from the start, as Scott Kazmir nailed Lorenzo Cain with a fastball that looked intentional. Ned Yost came on the field to argue and got tossed, and so did pitching coach Dave Eiland.
But this was just the appetizer. In the 8th inning, Royals relief pitcher Kelvin Herrera threw a 100 mph fastball shoulder high behind Brett Lawrie. Herrera was quickly ejected, and kept pointing at his head as he was leaving the field. Both benches cleared for the following scramble and brawl, which got Alcides Escobar and Royals bench coach Don Wakamatsu ejected as well.
Lawrie: That’s what got me hot. That’s what got me mad. You can’t throw at my head and then say, ‘Next time I face you, it’s in the head.’ He needs to pay for that. He doesn’t throw 85. He throws 100.
Herrera made everything sound very innocent and friendly like after the game: I don’t mean to hurt anybody. I was just trying to throw inside, but just a bad grip on that fastball. It started raining pretty good. And they just tossed me out of the game.
The game itself? The Royals overcame losing all these players and coaches to end up winning 4-2, claiming two of three in the series that also decided the Wild Card winner last season in a one game playoff, completing the A’s collapse from the top of the AL West to not really doing much for another postseason.
More interesting results
The San Diego Padres improved to 8-5 this season, taking the rubber game from the Cubs with a 5-2 win as Will Middlebrooks hit his third home run of the season.
The Atlanta Braves beat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-2 behind a four-RBI performance by Jonny Gomes.
The Detroit Tigers destroyed the Chicago White Sox, improving to 10-2 this season. This time? Winning 9-1 (after losing 12-3), with Yoenis Cespedes hitting two home runs (six RBIs) and Shane Greene improving to 3-0 this season.
The New York Mets improved to 10-3 this season (including 7-0 at home) with a 7-6 win over the Miami Marlins that almost got out of hand, dropping a six-run lead and needing a big save from Jeurys Familia.
The Baltimore Orioles tied things up with the Boston Red Sox on top of the AL East (7-5) after an 8-3 win, destroying Rick Porcello while Adam Jones hit his fifth home run of the season, finishing with 4-for-5 on the day.
The Arizona Diamondbacks keep the San Francisco Giants very far away from a title defense, beating them 5-1 to claim three of four in the series. Jeremy Hellickson got hit eight times but allowed just one run to pick up his first win of the season.
The Dodgers swept a 3-game series with the Rockies, beating them 7-0 on the last one. Brandon McCarthy gave up only three hits while three different players hit home runs. Scott van Slyke finished with three RBIs and two runs.