Royals starter Yordano Ventura and Angels outfielder Mike Trout jawed at each other in the top of the sixth inning of Sunday afternoon’s game. The Royals entered the inning leading 7-1, but Trout reached on a one-out single and came around to score on an Albert Pujols double.
Trout, according to Andy McCullough of the Kansas City Star, yelled “Let’s go!”, ostensibly an effort to motivate his team in a still-winnable game. This rankled Ventura, who shouted something in Spanish that Trout didn’t understand. Catcher Salvador Perez immediately jumped in and escorted Ventura away from Trout. Pujols ran in from second base and the benches and bullpens cleared. No punches were thrown.Perez: “I didn’t want to fight. In that situation, we’re winning by 5 runs. So I didn’t want him to fight, get out of the game, whatever.”
— Andy McCullough (@McCulloughStar) April 12, 2015
Asked what happened w/ Trout, Ventura snorted. He said, via Christian Colon, “It was just baseball. It was some back-and-forth. Competing.”
— Andy McCullough (@McCulloughStar) April 12, 2015
You can watch the confrontation at MLB.com with this link. Ventura eventually exited the game with a cramp in his right calf. In his start, he yielded two runs on four hits and two walks while striking out seven. The Royals went on to win 9-2.
