Chris Sale reportedly still had some unfinished business with Yordano Ventura following his ejection Thursday night.
The Chicago White Sox ace was in the middle of the all-out, bench-clearing brawl that broke out in the seventh inning against the Kansas City Royals. Sale, one of five players ejected from the game, was all sorts of fired up after Adam Eaton hit a comebacker to Ventura, who responded with an expletive and a staredown.
Things escalated from there, with Sale having to be restrained before eventually getting the boot. But his night wasn’t quite over yet. According to Nate Bukaty, who works for 810 Sports Radio in Kansas City, Sale made his way to the Royals’ clubhouse the next inning, looking to teach the hot-headed Ventura a lesson.
[tweet https://twitter.com/nate_bukaty/status/591552898401640451 align=’center’]
A similar story popped up on Reddit after the game.
[tweet https://twitter.com/MimonFishbaum/status/591475607281635328 align=’center’]
The Royals pitcher certainly is gaining a less-than-stellar reputation this season, as he pulled a somewhat similar move just five days earlier against Mike Trout and the Los Angeles Angels. So, while Sale beating the pulp out of Ventura would have made a lot — like, a lot — of people in the baseball world happy, White Sox fans can breathe a sigh of relief that it never came to fruition and their ace won’t be missing any time with a broken hand.
UPDATE (12:30 a.m. ET): White Sox manager Robin Ventura confirmed Friday night to ESPN.com that Sale indeed went to the Royals’ locker room. ESPN.com reported, via a source, that Royals outfielder Alex Rios, Sales’ White Sox teammate for four seasons, helped calmed down the pitcher, who didn’t want to discuss the matter Friday.
“There’s really nothing to talk about; it is what it is,” Sale said. “What’s done is done. It’s all in the past. Baseball’s a day-to-day sport. Every day is a new day, so anything that happened yesterday, we’re ready to win a ballgame today, and we’re just ready to put this all behind us. Come in every day ready to win, and that’s what we’re ready to do.”
Thumbnail photo via Matt Marton/USA TODAY Sports Images
H/t The Big Lead
