Bad blood brewing between White Sox and Royals
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The White Sox and Royals play 17 more games against each other this season. If early indications are accurate, it is going to be a series worth watching.
After years of being mired in the AL Central cellar, Kansas City put it all together last year and made it to the World Series.
The Sox are coming off back-to-back losing seasons and are looking to make some noise after adding several veteran players over the winter.
The Royals beat the White Sox for the second straight game to start the season, 7-5.
Lorenzo Cain decided the outcome when he crushed a 2-run homer off Zach Putnam in the eighth inning.
"It was a cutter up, right over the white of the plate," Putnam said. "Not a good pitch. That's a bad spot for any No. 3 big-league hitter."
Unlike Monday's opener - a 10-1 loss to the Royals, at least the Sox put up a fight.
"It was a great game," said White Sox manager Robin Ventura. "Guys were back and forth and battling. You've got to be able to withstand it all. They're a good team, no question about it. We have to find a way to get some runs and get more than they do."
There was more bad blood Wednesday, indicating a rivalry is budding between the White Sox and K.C.
On Monday, a brawl almost erupted after Sox starter Jeff Samardzija served up a home run to Mike Moustakas and drilled an angry Cain with the next pitch.
Samardzija also hit Alex Gordon in the opener, and K.C. starter Yordano Ventura plunked Avisail Garcia.
That set the tone for Wednesday night's rematch at Kauffman Stadium.
In the first inning, Cain was hit again, this time by Sox starter Jose Quintana.
In the second, Royals starter Danny Duffy threw a pitch up and behind Adam LaRoche, prompting home-plate umpire Hunter Wendelstedt to warn both benches.
"You see what's going on," Ventura said after Wednesday's loss.
It was odd that Quintana wasn't ejected after hitting Moustakas in the third inning.
Not only was Wednesday another battle pitting pitcher against hitter, it was a back and forth on the scoreboard.
The Royals took a 1-0 lead in the first inning Kendry Morales singled after Moustakas doubled and Cain was hit by a pitch.
The White Sox rallied to take their first lead of the season in the second. After almost being hit with two outs, LaRoche doubled, Gordon Beckham singled and Tyler Flowers followed with a 3-run homer.
Eric Hosmer answered back in the third inning with a 3-run homer off Quintana to put the Royals back in front.
Bouncing right back, the Sox tied the game at 4 in the fourth when Beckham's two-out single scored Avisail Garcia from second base.
Salvador Perez put Kansas City back in front with an RBI single in the fifth inning before Alexei Ramirez tied it back up with a sacrifice fly in the sixth.