VIDEO: Royals' Ventura ejected for hitting Athletics' Lawrie with pitch
The Kansas City Royals were out for revenge on Saturday night.
Royals right-hander Yordano Ventura has exacted revenge on Oakland Athletics third baseman Brett Lawrie for injuring one of his teammates on Friday.
Ventura plunked Lawrie with nearly a 100-mph fastball in the fourth inning Saturday night after surrendering a three-run homer to Josh Reddick to make the score 5-0 for the A's.
(Courtesy: MLB.com)
Ventura was immediately ejected and the benches cleared for the second consecutive night. Lawrie was surprisingly calm and quietly took his base.
Reddick wasn't happy about the incident after the game.
Reddick: "We knew it was coming. After a home run, down 5, he's got nothing left to look forward to. We were on the top step waiting for it"
— Jane Lee (@JaneMLB) April 19, 2015
Reddick calls Ventura hitting Lawrie "bush league" and "a joke." Said #Athletics anticipating it after HR.
— Susan Slusser (@susanslusser) April 19, 2015
Lawrie, meanwhile, was quite pleased with how he conducted himself on the field.
Lawrie says umpire commended him on how he handled plunking. Also: he had no elbow guard on.
— Susan Slusser (@susanslusser) April 19, 2015
Lawrie: "They want me to blow up, but why fuel the fire? Why dump another thing of gasoline on it when I can just put a smile on?"
— Jane Lee (@JaneMLB) April 19, 2015
Tensions will be high for Sunday afternoon's series finale, unless manager Bob Melvin gives Lawrie the day off in an attempt to calm the storm.