Strike one! Moment match between Kansas City Royals and Chicago White Sox descended into mass brawl 

  • Thursday's match between two baseball heavyweights turned into a brawl
  • Began after dispute between the Royals' Ventura and White Sox's Eaton
  • Sparked a mass fight with members of both teams running onto the field
  • Umpired ejected a total of five players after the scrap at Chicago's stadium

Kansas City Royals match against rivals the Chicago White Sox descended into a mass brawl yesterday.

Umpires ejected a total of five players from both teams after the fight in the seventh inning of Thursday's game at Chicago's U.S. Cellular Field, Illinois.

A heated exchange between Royals starter Yordano Ventura and White Sox outfielder Adam Eaton sparked the brawl which saw players from both dugouts and bullpens flood the field, reported New York Daily News. 

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Chicago White Sox's Jeff Samardzija, center, in the brawl with Kansas City Royals players during the seventh inning of Thursday's game

Chicago White Sox's Jeff Samardzija, center, in the brawl with Kansas City Royals players during the seventh inning of Thursday's game

Several punches were thrown and Ventura, along with fellow teammates Lorenzo Cain and Edinson Volquez, was sent off along with Chicago's Chris Sale and Jeff Samardzija.

Thursday's match began to get scrappy after the White Sox's Jose Abreu was hit in the arm by Ventura's pitch in the fourth inning.

The very next inning, Royals' Mike Moustakas was also hit in the arm, this time by a pitch from Chris Sale, leading to a warning for both teams. 

But things continued to escalate until Eaton hit a comebacker (a ball batted directly back to the pitcher) at Ventura in the seventh inning.

The Royals starter picked up a ground ball but instead of throwing it to first for the out, he appeared to stop for a moment and stare at the pitcher. 

 MLB.com 

Umpires ejected a total of five players from both teams after the fight after the seventh inning of Thursday's game at Chicago's U.S. Cellular Field, Illinois

Umpires ejected a total of five players from both teams after the fight after the seventh inning of Thursday's game at Chicago's U.S. Cellular Field, Illinois

The pair exchanged words, and Eaton is alleged to have shouted an expletive at Ventura, who was said to have shouted one back before he threw to first base to end the inning. 

Things quickly turned ugly and both players had to be kept apart by teammates and umpires.

But the whole of both teams ran onto the field for the brawl where there was pushing, shoving and even a few punches.

The fight was beginning to calm down and Moustakas was escorting Ventura back to the dugout when Samardzija charged at Cain. However, he missed knocked over coach Mike Jirschele instead. 

Ventura told ESPN Chicago he regretted the way he'd handled himself.

'It was a messy situation, I got the ground ball and was unable to control my emotions in that play, and it turned out ugly,' Ventura said.

Several punches were thrown and Kansas City's Ventura, Lorenzo Cain and Edinson Volquez were ejected along with Chicago's Chris Sale and Jeff Samardzija (pictured going down) 

Several punches were thrown and Kansas City's Ventura, Lorenzo Cain and Edinson Volquez were ejected along with Chicago's Chris Sale and Jeff Samardzija (pictured going down) 

The whole of both teams ran onto the field for the brawl where there was pushing, shoving and even a few punches in the brawl

The whole of both teams ran onto the field for the brawl where there was pushing, shoving and even a few punches in the brawl

'(Eaton) said something to me. I responded back to him,' he said. 'It wasn't my intention, but maybe he interpreted it from the way I fielded the ball, but it was a hard comebacker, kind of put me off-balance, at which point I took those steps that incited him and he responded back, clearly emotional.' 

Royals won the game 3-2 in 13 innings, which is the first of a four-game series.

This is not the first time the Royals have had tensions with other teams.

Last weekend, their clash with Oakland Athletics landed scrappy Ventura with a fine for his actions. He was also involved in the team's disagreements with the Los Angeles Angels.

In the three-game series against the Athletics, the teams clashed almost every match until five players and coaches were thrown out of the finale.

They included Royals reliever Kelvin Herrera, who threw that fastball behind the head of Brett Lawrie and pointed to his own head in a threatening manner. He received a five-game suspension.  

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