Yankees third baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. accused Royals’ Maikel Garcia of trying to intentionally hurt Anthony Volpe while sliding into second base during Game 4 of a close AL Division Series that New York won 3-1 on Thursday night.
Garcia began the sixth inning with a single, and Michael Massey followed with a ground ball to first base. Jon Berti fielded the ball, stepped on the base, and then threw to Volpe at second for a double play. Garcia slid hard into the base, and Volpe responded with a tough tag on Garcia.
This led to a heated moment as both teams rushed onto the field, but no punches were thrown, and no players were ejected.
“I just felt like he tried to go in and injure Volpe because he was being a sore loser. You know what I mean?” Chisholm said. “He was talking a ton on Instagram and Twitter and stuff.
I do the same thing, but I’m not going to injure somebody if they’re winning a game. I didn’t like that. I told him we don’t do that on this side, and I’m going to stick up for my guys.”
Chisholm had already been seen as the villain in the series after saying the Royals were “lucky” to win Game 2. He faced boos from the crowd during every at-bat, as fans were eager for postseason action.
After the game, the Yankees jokingly booed him during their postgame celebration in the visiting clubhouse, as they looked forward to facing either the Guardians or Tigers in the AL Championship Series on Monday night at Yankee Stadium.
The Yankees and Royals have had a long-standing rivalry, dating back to the 1970s when players like George Brett and Graig Nettles would engage in serious fights during games that determined American League representatives in the World Series.
Thursday’s scene resembled those earlier confrontations when the benches cleared.
“Yeah, it was like if there was some kind of upset over the slide or whatever, we just go back and show a little Hal McRae and Willie Randolph, and we’ll all laugh at ourselves,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone joked.
