KC Royals: Ten Best Games So Far This Season
Chicago White Sox players fight with Kansas City Royals players in the seventh inning at U.S Cellular Field. Mandatory Credit: Matt Marton-USA TODAY Sports
Royals at White Sox: April 23rd at U.S. Cellular Field (Royals won 3-2 in 13 innings)
Oh boy, here we go.
Early on in the season, the Kansas City Royals were targeted by a lot of other teams. Why? No one knows for sure, but most assumed it was due to the fact that they were the lovable underdogs during the 2014 postseason and then went on to win the American League pennant. Teams were ready for that to be a closing act once 2015 started off, but had to instead witness the boys in blue go on a 7-0 run and continue to puff their chests out after each game.
Opponents hated how cocky the Royals were at the beginning of the 2015 season and therefore, the Royals were wearing pitches frequently every game. Things boiled over in a series against the Oakland Athletics, but they reached full capacity when the team traveled to Chicago to take on the division rival White Sox.
The Royals had the reputation as the “bad boys of baseball” and were getting a lot of heat for the way they handled themselves during the first month of the season.
The White Sox were still clearly irritated about being swept by the boys in blue to kick off the 2015 season, and it showed early on in the game. Chris Sale hit Mike Moustakas with a pitch, and while it could have been an accident, later actions by Sale say otherwise when he attempted to confront Ventura in the Royals’ clubhouse (Source: Bruce Levine of CBS Chicago).
The fun began in the seventh inning when Adam Eaton hit a ball that Ventura got him out with over at first base. The two were exchanging words and all of a sudden, all hell broke loose. Both benches cleared and the fight appeared to center around Lorenzo Cain and Jeff Samardzija, who had some beef in the opening day game when Samardzija hit Cain with a pitch.
Reports later seemed to indicate that Samardzija had been chirping from the dugout throughout the entire game despite not pitching. Samardzija seemed to still be irritated with the Royals after being apart of the Athletics team that got beat in the Wildcard game, and carried it into this season (Link source: (Source: Colleen Kane of The Chicago Tribune).
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The game saw several suspensions being given out, and it also started the whole “Straight Outta Kauffman” trend that was (and still is) going around Kansas City. The Royals had the reputation as the “bad boys of baseball” and were getting a lot of heat for the way they handled themselves during the first month of the season.
The Royals and White Sox went 13 innings in that game and went on to win in a game that really fueled this rivalry. The teams haven’t met since April 26th, but the White Sox won that series two games to one.
Next: Get well Gordo