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 The latest victory came on a night when a bench-clearing brawl
between the Royals and the Chicago White Sox headlined Kansas City's
3-2, 13-inning decision at U.S. Cellular Field on Thursday night.
First baseman Eric Hosmer delivered a two-out RBI single in the
bottom of the 13th inning, scoring center fielder Jarrod Dyson from
first base, improving the Royals' record to 12-4.
"Even if it's April, these (games) are important no matter what,"
Hosmer said. "Especially in the late innings there, extra innings,
with them being at home, for our relievers to hold it down for us
and give us a chance was huge. It was a big win."
The fight in the bottom of the seventh inning led to the ejection of
five players, including Royals starting pitcher Yordano Ventura and
White Sox starter Chris Sale.
The chaos began when White Sox center fielder Adam Eaton grounded
out to end the inning. As Eaton passed Ventura on his way to first
base, Ventura yelled at Eaton, including an expletive.
Video replays showed that Eaton may have said something to Ventura
as he left the batter's box.
"What happened, (you've got) two competitive teams scratching for
the same goal -- sometimes, that gets the best of you," Eaton said.
"Ventura is a heck of a competitor. ... I'm a competitor as well.
Sometimes, boys will be boys."
Through an interpreter, Ventura said he and Eaton exchanged words
before the incident escalated. When Ventura fielded the ground ball
back to the mound, he said he was unable to control his emotions and
that things got "ugly."
Both benches and bullpens cleared, and a fight ensued around first
base. Among the most active participants was White Sox ace Jeff
Samardzija, who was ejected along with both starting pitchers and
Royals center fielder Lorenzo Cain and right-handed pitcher Edinson
Volquez.
"It's a messy situation," Ventura said through the interpreter. He
later said it wasn't his intention for the matter to intensify the
way it did and that if words weren't exchanged, the fight never
would have taken place.
Sale -- who was tossed after pitching seven innings and giving up
two runs, the same stats as Ventura -- wouldn't specify what he
thinks caused the brawl. The two American League Central rivals
combined to hit six batters in the series, their first meeting of
the season.
"I'm not going to sit here and put my foot in my mouth or spill the
beans," Sale said. "The proof is in what you guys saw, and that was
about it."
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The White Sox threatened in the bottom of the 10th inning, leaving
two runners in scoring position. However, after Eaton got to third
base on a wild pitch after initially reaching on an error, Kansas
City reliever Ryan Madson got right fielder Avisail Garcia to ground
out to end the threat.
The White Sox stranded 10 runners in the loss.
Franklin Morales (2-0) threw one scoreless inning to earn the win.
Jake Petricka (0-1) gave up one run in two innings and absorbed the
loss.
Third baseman Mike Moustakas and Hosmer each had three hits for the
Royals, and left fielder Alex Gordon added two hits. First baseman
Jose Abreu led the White Sox with two hits.
Prior to the brawl, tension grew after Ventura and Sale hit batters
in the fourth and fifth innings.
Royals manager Ned Yost said he believes Thursday night's brawl had
ties back to the series in Kansas City and between Cain and
Samardzija, who appeared to be involved before the biggest part of
the brawl began Thursday night.
"Hopefully, it's all behind us and we can just move forward," Yost
said.
NOTES: White Sox LHP Chris Sale came up short in his bid to start
the season with three straight victories for the second consecutive
year. Sale won his first five games in 2014. ... The White Sox's
offense came alive over previous five games. Chicago scored 25 runs
and hit .313 as a team during that stretch. ... Royals 2B Omar
Infante (strained groin) could return to the lineup at some point
during the four-game series in Chicago. Infante is hitting .250 in
11 games this season. ... The Royals opened a seven-game road trip,
as they play four games in Chicago before heading to Cleveland for a
three-game set.
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reserved.]
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