Wednesday night capped off what was a dreadful series for the Detroit Tigers at home against division rival Kansas City. The Royals hung 16 on the scoreboard en route to a sweep and winning their eighth straight overall to keep pace with the first-place Cleveland Indians.
It’s what happened in the ninth inning that is generating all the talk, however. In a 14-2 blowout, Tigers reliever Bruce Rondon decides to plunk Royals third baseman Mike Moustakas with clear intent. Rondon was promptly ejected from the contest.
https://twitter.com/TheRenderMLB/status/890400642765910016
Here is what it sounded like from the Royals’ feed on Fox Sports.
Danny Duffy, teammate of the year! Standing up for Moose! What a guy. #Royals pic.twitter.com/3hRZbAMaMd
— Chris Lilly (@ChrisLilly_) July 27, 2017
Benches empty and some players more than others had to be separated. Royals starter Danny Duffy, who pitched on Tuesday for Kansas City, was arguably the most fired up of anyone on his team.
Rondon did not speak with reporters after the game.
— Jason Beck (@beckjason) July 27, 2017
Ausmus on whether Rondon hit Moustakas intentionally: "I don't know what it was. I'll be honest with you."
— Jason Beck (@beckjason) July 27, 2017
Danny Duffy on Rondon:
“If he doesn’t want to compete in a situation that’s not sexy, they should just send his ass home."— Jeffrey Flanagan (@FlannyMLB) July 27, 2017
Eric Hosmer: “We didn’t show anyone up. We got hits, we scored runs. Apparently that’s frowned upon around here.”
— Jeffrey Flanagan (@FlannyMLB) July 27, 2017
Rondon appears to have taken exception with Lorenzo Cain scoring from second base on a base hit with the game already virtually decided. Important to know that Rondon gave up a single to Cain before allowing him to advance to second on a balk. Tigers outfielder Justin Upton didn’t seem to understand why Rondon did what he did, either.
Justin Upton said there's no unwritten rule on Cain scoring from 2B in a lopsided game like that. If he can score easily, he should.
— Jason Beck (@beckjason) July 27, 2017
Upton: "It was clearly a situation where he could score, and I thought he could score pretty easily."
— Jason Beck (@beckjason) July 27, 2017
Tigers utility man Andrew Romine came on to pitch and record the final two outs of that top half of the ninth.