The Kansas City Royals and Arizona Diamondbacks couldn’t be further from rivals. They’ve only met 34 times in their history. But you’d never realize that after seeing how Monday night’s game went between the two teams.
Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. is having himself a breakout season, and he put on a show against the D-backs pitching staff in the series opener. Witt tripled, double and homered in his first three at-bats. So, when he came to the plate in the sixth inning a single away from the cycle, the entire crowd at Kauffman Stadium was on their feet. They wanted to see history.
D-backs reliever Humberto Castellanos wouldn’t let that happen.
Bobby Witt Jr. gets plunked just a single shy of the cycle
The Royals and their fans were NOT happy pic.twitter.com/CEKDjjlJEP
— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) July 23, 2024
Castellanos hit Witt with a fastball on the first pitch of the at-bat. The Royals and their fans were furious, thinking that the pitch was intentional. After all, the Royals were up big and hitting a star player with a first-pitch fastball always raises suspicions.
The Royals retaliated the following half inning, hitting catcher Gabriel Moreno — presumably the one who would have called for the Witt plunking — with a 2-1 sinker after working inside for much of the at-bat.
The Royals retaliated for the Diamondbacks hitting Bobby Witt Jr. and the umps warned both dugouts
Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo was HEATED and got ejected, Salvador Perez had some strong words in the exchange too pic.twitter.com/2m1lr9djfn
— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) July 23, 2024
D-backs manager Torey Lovullo was ejected after both dugouts got warned, and Salvador Perez — who was upset after the initial plunking — had more strong words for the D-backs.
After the game Lovullo strongly denied that the D-backs hit Witt on purpose.
Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo explains what led up to his ejection, including on-the-field comments to #Royals catcher Salvador Perez.
The ejection came after the Diamondbacks and Royals hit batters with pitches in back-to-back innings, one with Bobby Witt Jr. near a cycle. pic.twitter.com/dzQW8VWUMn
— Bally Sports Kansas City (@BallySportsKC) July 23, 2024
Witt would have another chance to chase that cycle in the eighth inning, but he flew out to finish the night at 3 for 4 with three RBI and three runs. The Royals won, 10-4.
