Associated press

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – Yankees third baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. accused the Royals’ Maikel Garcia of intentionally hurting Anthony Volpe as he slid into second base during Game 4 of a tense AL Division Series that New York won by a 3. -1 win on Thursday evening.

Garcia had led off the sixth inning with a single and Michael Massey had followed with a helicopter to first base, where Jon Berti fielded the ball and stepped on the bag. He then shot to Volpe who covered second for the double play, and Garcia slid hard into base – and Volpe also delivered a hard hit to the Kansas City third baseman.

Tempers immediately flared and both teams flooded the field, although no punches were thrown and no one was thrown.

“I just felt like he was trying to go in and hurt Volpe because he was a sore loser. Do you know what I mean?” Chisholm said. “He talked a lot on Instagram and Twitter and stuff. I do the same, but I’m not going to injure someone if he or she wins a match. I didn’t like that. I told him we don’t do that on this side and that I’m going to stand up for my boys.”

Chisholm had already become the villain of the series when he said Kansas City was “lucky” to win Game 2 in New York. He was reminded of the comment during every at-bat and drew a steady stream of boos from a crowd hungry for postseason ball.

The Yankees jokingly booed him Thursday night during a postgame party in the visiting clubhouse and looked ahead to a matchup with the Guardians or Tigers with Game 1 of the AL Championship Series scheduled for Monday night at Yankee Stadium.

The Yankees and Royals have grown to dislike each other over the years, long before this playoff game. In fact, the fear can be traced back to the 1970s, when players like the Royals’ George Brett and the Yankees’ Graig Nettles got into fistfights during games that often decided who would represent the American League in the World Series.

It was a lot like those days when the benches emptied on Thursday evening. Chisholm started whistling again at the Royals while running down the middle of the scrum, and Yankees starter Gerrit Cole – who allowed a single run over seven innings of accurate pitching – had to be held back as tensions ran high at Kauffman Stadium.

“I kept my emotions inside all night,” Cole admitted, “and let them out on the way to the dugout.”

It took Aaron Judge, among others, to keep the teams from colliding, only to meet near second base. And while order was restored and play soon resumed, there was an underlying tension the rest of the time.

“I have no idea (what happened). Honestly,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “It was like we were out there and then it was at the end of a playoff game again. So I haven’t even let the dust settle and talk to the guys involved.”

When asked what happened from his perspective, Royals manager Matt Quatraro was matter-of-fact: “Volpe had the ball, blocked the bag, Maikel probably didn’t care that much, and it got a little chippy.”

It happens in postseason baseball, especially when the Yankees and Royals are involved.

___

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB