The Kansas City Star reported that Kansas City Royals pitcher Yordano Ventura was “contrite and apologetic” for his part in a brawl Thursday that resulted in five ejections, including his own.
Royals manager Ned Yost said his postgame message for Ventura talked about better controlling his emotions. The right-hander has already been involved in several high-profile incidents this season, including one with Brett Lawrie and the Oakland A’s last weekend.
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“He’s a young guy,” Yost said. “I had trouble learning how to control my emotions when I was young. It’s something you’ve got to continue to work on. It just comes out. He’s a competitive guy, and it just comes out. He’s going to be focused on trying to control his emotions better from here on out.”
But not everyone wearing a Kansas City uniform was as diplomatic. Lorenzo Cain, who also was ejected, isn’t fond of White Sox pitcher Jeff Samardzija, who hit the outfielder on Opening Day. Samardzija could be seen charging into the massive pile twice, including once in Cain’s direction.
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“I’m not a big fan,” Cain said. “I’m not a big fan of him. I don’t know what the deal is. We’re just going to try to clean it up and get ready to play some baseball tomorrow. We’ll see what happens.”
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At one point, Yost was face to face with Chris Sale, who also got ejected as did Royals pitcher Edinson Volquez. Yost also found himself at the bottom of the pile as did third-base coach Mike Jirschele after Samardzija raced into a crowd.
"It felt like there was 20 guys sitting on top of me for a little while,” Yost said.
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Yost did add he didn’t feel Sale intended to hit Mike Moustakas with a 0-2 pitch in the fifth inning. Sale’s hit batsmen came an inning after Ventura struck Jose Abreu and plate ump Sam Holbrook immediately issued warnings to both benches.