Benches cleared after Royals’ Lucas Erceg hit an Orioles player with a pitch
.jpg "Blaze Alexander #23 of the Baltimore Orioles is held back by manager Craig Albernaz #55 and home plate umpire Ryan Additon after being hit by a pitch in the seventh inning against the Kansas City Royals at Oriole Park at Camden Yards on Sunday July 12, 2026 in Baltimore, Maryland.")
Baltimore fans had good reason to cheer for most of Sunday’s game against the Royals at Oriole Park at Camden Yards.
But boos rained down from the 31,355 in the crowd in the seventh inning.
Catcher Samuel Basallo hit a solo homer off Royals relief pitcher Lucas Erceg to push Baltimore’s lead to 8-2. Erceg threw a 1-2 fastball to the next batter, Blaze Alexander, but the pitch was up and in. The ball hit Alexander in the left hand.
Orioles reporter Jake Rill noted after the game that Alexander had a non-displaced fracture in that hand.
Erceg said he was trying to quick-pitch Alexander, who is batting .312 this season, and the ball got away from him.
“Like I was telling him after I hit him, I have no ill-intent there. Just was trying to pitch. I know I quick-pitch to a lot of guys, especially with two-strike counts,” Erceg said. “Lost it a little bit up and in. Good hitter, I think he’s hitting three-something, whatever. He’s had a good series, so didn’t want to miss over the plate. And I know one of his holes are up and in, so if I’m going to miss, I’m going to miss armside and not miss over the plate. So that’s baseball.”
Alexander tossed his helmet down and began walking to first base when he stopped and yelled at Erceg, who put his arms up as if to say it was an accident. The benches cleared and relief pitchers from both teams pored out of the outfield bullpens, running toward the, uh, kerfuffle.
None of the Royals players said they heard what Alexander said.
No punches were thrown, no one was seen pushing anyone, and it was all over quickly as cooler heads fortunately prevailed.
But fans wanted their pound of flesh and booed when Erceg wasn’t ejected.
Royals manager Matt Quatraro was happy to see things settled down quickly.
“Clearly, we’re not throwing at him there,” Quatraro said. “I don’t know why he was so frustrated, other than, you know, getting hit by the pitch. So we got out there. Their guys did a good job of taking him out of it, and you know our guys were backing off as well. So nothing was there to escalate.”
Erceg understood why there was booing because the hit batter came shortly after an Orioles home run.
“From a fan perspective, you can probably see that,” Erceg said. “But like I said, I’m out there to get outs, and not trying to hit guys. I know a couple of guys on the Orioles, and they’re good people, so don’t need to tarnish your reputation by going out and hitting guys.”
The Orioles ultimately won 8-2, thanks in part to a key Royals miscue.
This story was originally published July 12, 2026 at 3:34 PM.
