The Most Exciting Play In Baseball, The Brawl
07 Jun, 2016
Kansas City right-hander Yordano Ventura hit Manny Machado with a pitch to spark a bench-emptying fray , and the Baltimore Orioles extended the Royals’ losing streak to a season-high six games with a 9-1 rout Tuesday night.
Mark Trumbo homered and drove in four runs, and the Orioles also got long balls from Ryan Flaherty, Chris Davis and Adam Jones.
But the game’s most striking moment came in the fifth, when Ventura (4-4) drilled Machado in the back with a 99 mph fastball. In the second inning, with Baltimore leading 5-0, the two exchanged words after Ventura twice threw inside to the two-time All-Star.
So in the fifth, an instant after the ball hit him, Machado charged the mound. Ventura prepared for the onslaught by slinging aside his cap and glove, but Machado landed a solid punch before the pitcher tackled him to the ground.
Both dugouts and bullpens emptied before peace was restored. Machado was restrained by teammate Chris Tillman after the initial thrust.
Machado and Ventura were ejected with the score 5-1.
Trumbo greeted reliever Chien-Ming Wang with his major league-leading 20th home run, and Davis followed with a solo shot.
Ubaldo Jimenez (3-6) gave up one run and nine hits over five-plus innings to end a three-game skid.
Baltimore has won six of seven. This was the only victory in that stretch in which the Orioles never trailed.
The Royals stranded 13 and went 1 for 14 with runners in scoring position. It’s been a frustrating losing streak for the defending World Series champions, and Ventura made that clearly apparent with his actions in the fifth inning.
Baltimore opened the bottom of the first with four straight hits and took a 4-0 lead with only one out. The big blow was a two-run double by Trumbo, who scored on a single by Jonathan Schoop. The damage would have been worse if leaping center fielder Lorenzo Cain didn’t reach far over the 7-foot wall to rob Pedro Alvarez of a potential two-run homer.
Flaherty led off the second with his first home run of the season, a drive that traveled an estimated 446 feet before landing on Eutaw Street beyond the right-field wall.
Jimenez, meanwhile, worked out of trouble in each of the first three innings. Then, after issuing a bases-loaded walk to Reymond Fuentes in the fourth, the right-hander got three straight outs.
AP
Image AthleteSwag twitter
Mentioned In This Post:
