The Kansas City Royals eased to a 14-3 victory over the Chicago White Sox on Sunday, the loss dropping the visitors out of first place in the American League Central for the first time since May 16.
The game was marred by a bench-clearing brawl in the fifth inning and a total of five ejections, with the Chicago defeat allowing the Minnesota Twins (62-49) to leapfrog them in the division after their 6-2 home win over Cleveland.
PHOTO: EPA
The fireworks started when Kansas City catcher Miguel Olivo was hit in the wrist by a pitch from Chicago’s D.J. Carrasco.
Olivo charged the mound, seemingly preparing to punch Carrasco, a former Royals pitcher, when Chicago catcher A.J. Pierzynski grabbed him from behind.
The Royals catcher responded by hitting Pierzynski in the head, with both dugouts and bullpens emptying onto the field after Olivo made his rush to the mound.
Carrasco, Olivo and White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen were all ejected, after Kansas City manager Trey Hillman and Royals starter Zack Greinke were earlier tossed from the game.
Olivo told reporters he was convinced the White Sox were throwing at him.
“They come inside hard three times,” Olivo said. “That is the team that has hit me three times already. It seemed so obvious to me.”
Guillen in turn blamed Olivo for the brawl.
“Olivo overreacted to the situation,” Guillen said. “I’m not going to bring a guy in that throws 85 miles an hour [136.8kph] to hit somebody.”
Pierzynski defend his team and his manager after the incident, which came a half inning after Hillman and Greinke were ejected after Greinke hit Chicago’s Nick Swisher with a pitch.
“We don’t play like that,” Pierzynski said. “Ozzie doesn’t play like that. This team doesn’t play like that.”
Mike Aviles went 4-for-4 with a home run and Jose Guillen also homered for the Royals, who pounded out a season-high 19 hits for the second straight game. Greinke pitched six-and-a-third innings for the win before he was ejected.
Sunday’s game was the finale of a 10-game road trip for the White Sox, who lost two of three games to the fourth place Royals. Chicago (61-49) now heads home for the next 10 games, where the Sox are 35-16.
Twins 6, Indians 2
At Minneapolis, Francisco Liriano threw six scoreless innings in his return to the Minnesota rotation, helping the Twins move into first in the American League Central with a 6-2 victory over the Cleveland Indians.
Denard Span and Brendan Harris homered for Minnesota, which moved a half-game ahead of the White Sox. Chicago lost 14-3 at Kansas City.
Liriano missed all of last season after Tommy John surgery and went 0-3 with an 11.32 ERA in three starts before being sent down in April. He dominated at Triple-A Rochester, going 10-0 with a 2.67 ERA in his last 11 starts, and was openly frustrated as the Twins waited until Friday to call him up.
Span went 2-for-4, and Nick Punto and Mike Lamb each had run-scoring triples for Minnesota.
In other games it was:
• Rays 6, Tigers 5, 10 innings
• Yankees 14, Angels 9
• Red Sox 5, Athletics 2
• Mariners 8, Orioles 4
• Rangers 8, Blue Jays 4
NATIONAL LEAGUE
AP, LOS ANGELES
Manny Ramirez finished off his first series with the Los Angeles Dodgers on a tear, going 4-for-5 with a homer and three RBIs in a 9-3 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks.
The Dodgers salvaged a split of the four-game series and sliced Arizona’s NL West lead to one game.
Ramirez hit an RBI single in the first inning, doubled in a run in the second and went deep in the fifth for career homer No. 512, passing Mel Ott and moving into a tie with Eddie Mathews and Ernie Banks for 20th place.
Ramirez is 8-for-13 with five RBIs in three games since Thursday’s three-way trade with Boston and Pittsburgh.
Cory Wade (2-1) worked one-and-two-third innings to get the win.
Astros 4, Mets 0
At Houston, Ty Wigginton homered and Houston completed its first three-game sweep New York since September 1993.
Hunter Pence and Humberto Quintero added RBI doubles and Randy Wolf (7-10) won his home debut for the Astros, who have won six of their past seven games.
Jose Valverde shut out the Mets in the ninth. Houston’s bullpen did not allow a run in 11 innings in the series.
New York has dropped four in a row and was shut out for the fourth time this season.
Rockies 3, Marlins 2
At Miami, pinch-hitter Seth Smith drove in the winning run with a single in the ninth inning, lifting Colorado.
Florida reliever Joe Nelson walked Chris Iannetta to lead off the ninth. Iannetta was replaced by pinch-runner Cory Sullivan, who stole second. Nelson (2-1) intentionally walked Brad Hawpe, then Smith singled up the middle to score Sullivan and give the Rockies their first lead.
In other games it was:
• Braves 5, Brewers 0
• Nationals 4, Reds 2
• Cubs 8, Pirates 5
• Padres 4, Giants 1
• Phillies 5, Cardinals 4
US track and field athletes have about four dozen pieces to choose from when assembling their uniforms at the Olympics. The one grabbing the most attention is a high-cut leotard that barely covers the bikini line and has triggered debate between those who think it is sexist and others who say they do not need the Internet to make sure they have good uniforms. Among those critical or laughing at the uniforms included Paralympian Femita Ayanbeku, sprinter Britton Wilson and even athletes from other countries such as Britain’s Abigail Irozuru, who wrote on social media: “Was ANY female athlete consulted in
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Former US Masters champion Zach Johnson was left embarrassed after a foul-mouthed response to ironic cheers from spectators after a triple bogey at Augusta National on Friday. Johnson, the 2007 Masters winner, missed the cut after his three-over-par round of 75 left him on seven-over 151 for 36 holes, his six on the par-three 12th playing a big role in his downfall. Television footage showed Johnson reacting to sarcastic cheers and applause when he tapped in for the triple bogey by yelling: “Oh fuck off.” Such a response would be considered bad form in any golf tournament, but is particularly out of keeping
Taiwan’s Lee Jhe-huei and Yang Po-hsuan on Saturday won the men’s doubles bronze medal at the Badminton Asia Championships in Ningbo, China, after they were bested by the hosts in their semi-final. The Taiwanese shuttlers lost to China’s Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang, who advanced to yesterday’s final against Malaysia’s Goh Sze Fei and Nur Izzudin. The Chinese pair outplayed Lee and Yang in straight games. Although the Taiwanese got off to a slow start in the first game, they eventually tied it 14-14, before Liang and Wang went on to blow past them to win 21-17. In the second game, Lee and