Rabble-rousing Ventura helps hot-hitting Royals complete sweep of Angels
One stare-down led to another during the Royals' 9-2 win over the Angels on Sunday afternoon.
Los Angeles center fielder and reigning American League Most Valuable Player Mike Trout ripped a sixth-inning single just past Yordano Ventura, who glared at Trout at first base. One batter later, Trout scored on Albert Pujols' double and emerged from his slide to say something to Ventura at the plate.
The pair of 23-year-old franchise players got chest to chest before Salvador Perez dragged Ventura away from trouble and Trout was escorted down the third-base line. The benches cleared and the bullpens emptied, but no punches were thrown and no ejections administered.
The dust-up with Trout overshadowed another dominant outing for Ventura, who threw 5 2/3 innings of two-run ball before leaving the game with a cramp. He gave up just four hits and two walks with seven strikeouts on 87 pitches.
Kansas City (6-0) is off to its best start since 2003 and is one of just two undefeated teams remaining. AL Central rival Detroit is the other.
3 UP
• Offensive firepower still around. With Perez's solo homer in the seventh, Sunday continued a stretch of six straight games in which the Royals homered. It is their longest stretch to open a season, with six players contributing nine home runs.
Entering Sunday, only the Orioles (11) had hit more homers than Kansas City, which was last in the majors in 2014 with 95 long balls. The Royals are now averaging 6.7 runs per game and have batted around the order in an inning in three games.
• Orlando's triplets. Paulo Orlando earned his second career major league start and tripled twice more to become the first player in baseball history to record a triple for each of his first three hits.
In the sixth inning, he sent a flyball to center field, where it sailed past Trout and off the wall. Orlando easily cruised into third with a stand-up triple. An inning later, he bounced a ball off the base of the left-field wall and over Matt Joyce's head.
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Orlando is the first Royal to triple twice in a game since John Buck in 2009.
• LoCain's surprising catch. Lorenzo Cain wowed Angel Stadium's crowd one more time, diving to grab C.J. Cron's sinking line drive in the fifth inning. Once Cron hit the ball, Ventura's body language showed he was visibly upset. But when Cain laid out to make the grab, his jaw dropped and he raised his glove in appreciation.
Cain also committed the Royals' first error of the season, when he bobbled Pujols' double in the sixth.
3 DOWN
• Ventura's exit. Ventura left the game in the sixth after he failed to cover first base on a groundball to the right side of the infield. He was later diagnosed with a right calf cramp. In both of his starts this season, Ventura has left the game early because of a cramp. He left his Opening Day start with a right thumb cramp.
• Hosmer's hat trick. First baseman Eric Hosmer struck out three times as part of an 0-for-5 day at the plate. He was the only Royal to go hitless, and two of his three strikeouts came with runners in scoring position.
He now has one hit and five strikeouts in his last 12 at-bats.
• Alex Gordon. The Royals' star left fielder sat out the series finale against the Angels, his second day off in the last four days. Gordon is still recovering from offseason wrist surgery.
Royals manager Ned Yost said he would look to rest Gordon during day games after night games when Kansas City was facing a left-hander. The Royals faced southpaw C.J. Wilson on Sunday.
WHAT'S NEXT
The Royals head to Minnesota (1-5) for a three-game series. The Twins' offense has been one of the worst in the majors so far this season, scoring just one run in their first three games and only 13 total.
Left-hander Danny Duffy will look to keep Minnesota off the scoreboard once more when he takes the hill Monday afternoon. Duffy allowed five runs on eight hits over five innings last week in his first start of the season. He is 3-1 with a 2.09 ERA all-time against the Twins.
Minnesota right-hander Trevor May will make his first start of the season and just the 10th of his career. In 2014, May went 3-6 with a 7.88 ERA. He opposed the Royals once last August and took the loss after giving up three runs in 4 2/3 innings.
Monday's game will be the third time this season the Royals participate in Opening Day ceremonies.
You can follow Matthew DeFranks on Twitter at @MDeFranks or email him at matthew.defranks@gmail.com.
