KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Jazz Chisholm Jr. says the Royals were “lucky” to win Game 2, insists the Yankees will win the series, and puts himself in the ALDS crosshairs .
And when Chisholm lost his temper in the sixth inning of Game 4, the Yankees' victory over the Royals, Chisholm didn't back down.
Bench was ejected after Royals third baseman Michael Garcia slid hard into second base and accidentally took the forearm from Anthony Volpe as he was tagged to end a double play.
As Garcia stood up and remained in front of the bag, Volpe clapped him on the back, but Chisholm came over and exchanged words with Garcia, which caused the dugout and bullpen to spill onto the field.
“I just felt like [Garcia] I tried to hurt Volpe because Volpe was so competitive,'' Chisholm said in the Yankees' champagne-soaked clubhouse after a 3-1 win at Kauffman Stadium. “He was talking a lot on Instagram and Twitter and stuff like that. I do the same thing, but I don't try to hurt people who are winning games and I didn't like that. So I I told him I won't do that on my side. I will always do my best for my guys.”
After the Royals' Game 2 win, Garcia retweeted a video of Carlos Rodon excited after getting a strikeout in the first inning, and commented, “Don't celebrate too soon.'' He also posted, “We are not afraid of anyone.”
Coach Volpe didn't seem to have a problem with Garcia's sliding, but Garcia took his first step trying to beat a throw from John Berti, who grounded out and started a double play.
“The stakes are high,” Volpe said. “Everybody's playing hard, everybody's trying to win. They're playing for their season. He came in hard, but we're always going to get back up.”
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“No. I'm going to go to the bases hard, he's going to make something happen, because they didn't have much going on. This is what happens when guys play hard.”
During the skirmish, Gerrit Cole walked toward Garcia, and catcher Austin Wells intercepted and held him back.
“I don't know what happened, but I don't like him going after my shortstop,” Cole said. “I just wanted to be in front of him.”
Manager Aaron Boone said he didn't know what people were angry about, but suggested it pales in comparison to the old rivalry between the Yankees and Royals.
“If there was an upset on the slide or something, we could go back and show a little bit of Hal McRae and Willie Randolph and we'd all laugh at ourselves,” Boone said.
