With suspensions looming, Royals hope to move on from ‘emotional’ series with Oakland

The gesture was broadcast on the television screen inside Ned Yost’s office. Ejected from Sunday’s game, Yost witnessed Kelvin Herrera point to his head after throwing a pitch behind the back of Oakland third baseman Brett Lawrie. As a spectator, Yost experienced a reaction common to viewers across the country.

"You look at it, and you’re like ‘God, what’s he doing that for?’" Yost said.

Herrera received an ejection of his own, as one of five Royals tossed from Sunday’s fracas. After the game, he insisted he lost his grip on the baseball, even if it was the second pitch he threw inside to Lawrie, the antagonist for Kansas City all weekend. When asked the meaning of his gesture, Herrera said he was saying to Lawrie, "Think about it."

Lawrie interpreted the expression as a threat. He railed against Herrera and the Royals, and insisted Herrera deserved a suspension. When Yost conferred with Herrera, he inferred a different message. The Kansas City position involves a bit more nuance, even if it still carries more than a hint of menace.

"I can see what he was saying," Yost said before Monday’s game against the Twins. "We kind of talk about it all the time. ‘You better think about it. Because we’ve got guys that throw 100. You want to mess around?’ That’s all he was doing."

Herrera will likely pay for his actions in both dollars and playing time. The Royals had yet to hear from Major League Baseball before Monday’s game, but there is the expectation that both Herrera and Yordano Ventura could face suspensions for throwing pitches at or near Lawrie this past weekend. Also in jeopardy of suspension are Yost, shortstop Alcides Escobar, pitching coach Dave Eiland and bench coach Don Wakamatsu. All four were ejected on Sunday.

Herrera lacked interest in revisiting the subject. He declined to comment. General manager Dayton Moore indicated he did not see Herrera’s gesture and declined to speculate on its meaning.

Herrera’s 100-mph fastball was the final, physical act of a drama that began on Friday night. Lawrie executed a takeout slide of Escobar at second base. Escobar referred to the play as "dirty," and the duo engaged in a he-said, he-said spat about whether Lawrie sent him a conciliatory text message.

Ventura drilled Lawrie with a 99-mph fastball on Saturday. Oakland outfielder Josh Reddick mentioned the possibility of retribution a day later. The Royals considered the matter settled. When Scott Kazmir hit Lorenzo Cain in Sunday’s first inning, Kansas City opted for a response. The team rallied for an eighth-inning comeback.

“You’ve got two teams that have a lot of really talented baseball players that play hard, with emotion and intensity,” Moore said. “That’s who they are. That’s who we are. You just move on.”

If Ventura is suspended, he could configure his appeal so that it may not even cost him a start. The club could also utilize Chris Young in his place without much concern. Losing Herrera would be more taxing, especially if it occurs while closer Greg Holland resides on the disabled list with a strained pectoral muscle.

The Athletics departed Kansas City on Sunday afternoon and a sense of normalcy returned to Kauffman Stadium for Monday’s series opener with Minnesota. The Royals lack hostility toward the Twins, even after their rookie reliever J.R. Graham broke the hand of outfielder Alex Rios last week.

So the Royals strove to move forward. Yost mentioned a few conversations in the clubhouse geared against looking back. First baseman Eric Hosmer reiterated Yost’s stance.

"It was an emotional series," Hosmer said. "We had the whole rest of the day yesterday to get over that. We’re back in the division now. It’s a team that took two of three from us last time, so these are big games."

The baseball public remained fixated on the weekend. A few hours before the game, Edinson Volquez looked up at a television inside the clubhouse. He watched a former player clad in an undershirt and a cowboy hat bang a gavel and declare a judgment against the Royals. Volquez’s expression did not change.

"We just care about what goes on in here," Hosmer said. "Obviously there’s going to the perspective from the outside point of view, and what people turn the TV on and see. But we stick together as a team. We realize that if we’ve got everyone on the same page, and everyone is toward the same goal, and we’re all in it together, then we’re a tough team to beat."

This story was originally published April 20, 2015 at 7:08 PM with the headline "With suspensions looming, Royals hope to move on from ‘emotional’ series with Oakland."