The game started off terribly for Yordano Ventura and the Kansas City Royals.
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The Orioles, by the way, won the game, 9-1.
Manager Ned Yost says they have gone cold. By the time he recorded his first out of the game, Baltimore already led 3-0. Machado flied out to right in that at-bat, but the two jawed back and forth as the Orioles star made his way back to the dugout.
Machado said he didn’t know what was Ventura’s intention with the inside pitches and that his words to Ventura were not about that.
Machado charged the mound after being hit with a pitch in the bottom of the fifth, with the Orioles leading 5-1.
Hopefully you understand how an AL pitcher throwing at an AL hitter is like chucking a handful of gravel at another kid and then running and hiding behind your Great Dane.
You could read what was going to happen like a book, and three innings later when Machado stepped to the plate, the first pitch from Ventura, a 99 miles per hour fastball hit Machado directly in the back between the numbers, and Fight Night commenced.
Given Ventura’s recent history and the punishing blow he took from Machado, both players can expect suspensions. Both players were ejected, and you’ll see why in the video below.
For Yordano Ventura, that’s just adding insult to injury. He’s been bad on the mound for the entire year. “You can foresee things like that”. He’s brilliantly talented, but at the age of 25, he’s nowhere near as mature as he needs to be to reach his potential. “You’ve just got to continue to come out ready to play every single day”. Machado, who has also been involved in his fair share of brawls, was talking a lot of trash to Ventura in his prior at-bat.
For some background, Ventura threw inside on Machado during the Orioles third baseman’s at-bat in the second. So you better be getting ready to go.
Oh, and then there’s the offense.
In San Francisco, Xander Bogaerts hit a go-ahead, two-run single in the top of the 10th.
Ubaldo Jimenez, tonight’s starter for the Orioles, had an ERA of over 8.00 in his last eight games. Fulmer (6-1) struck out five and walked three in his third consecutive start without allowing a run.
The offensive struggles are incredible, honestly. The Royals tied a season high with their fifth straight loss. One was on a walk. The other was on a home run by the backup catcher. Jeanmar Gomez pitched out of a bases-loaded jam in the eighth and got the final six outs for his 19th save in 20 tries. The Royals have been outscored 38-4 since the sixth inning of Thursday’s collapse in Cleveland.
Machado’s machismo also seemed to motivate the O’s, as they went back-to-back on home runs afterwards.
“Coming into today my plan was fastballs inside and breaking balls in the dirt”, Ventura said, speaking through translator Pedro Grifol.
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“The talent is all there, but between the years, there is a circuit board off-balance”, Orioles center fielder Adam Jones told reporters at Camden Yards. Machado was restrained by teammate Chris Tillman after the initial thrust.
