'Everyone is playing hard': Yanks, Royals benches clear after slide into 2nd

KANSAS CITY – Heading into this American League Division Series between the Yankees and the Royals, there was much talk about the open hostility between the two teams during a somewhat epic rivalry from 1976 through ‘80, when they battled in the playoffs four times in five years.

It took until the sixth inning of Thursday’s clinching 3-1 victory for the Yankees at Kauffman Stadium, but tempers at last flared in the modern-day matchup, and the benches emptied, though no punches were thrown.

How did it start?

Maikel Garcia slid into the bag on a 3-6 double play started by Jon Berti, who stepped on first base and then fired to shortstop Anthony Volpe to complete the play.

Garcia felt Volpe was blocking his path to the base, so he aggressively slid across in an effort to carve out some space. Volpe held his ground and gave Garcia a shove below the chin with his right forearm while tagging him out.

“Just was trying to create an interference so he can miss the ball,” Garcia said through interpreter Luis Perez. “Then he used his other arm, the one that he didn’t have the ball, to tag me with. We just got in each other’s faces, and that was it.”

Volpe’s version of what transpired?

“Those things are hard,” said the Yankees’ shortstop. “Everyone is playing hard, everyone’s trying to win. They're playing for their season. He went in hard, but you’re always going to stand up [for yourself].”

Volpe gave Garcia a little push off the bag after the play was over, and then patted him on the chest.

“He just tapped my back. Didn’t really say anything,” Garcia said.

Did Volpe think it was a dirty slide?

“No, no,” Volpe said. “I’m going hard into the base. He’s trying to make something happen. They didn’t have much going on. That’s what happens when you’re in the playoffs. Everyone is playing hard.”

The combination of events didn’t sit well with Garcia, who started jawing back and forth with Volpe and a few other Yankees. Jazz Chisholm Jr. was also hollering at Garcia at the start of the exchange, which seemed to be the precipice for the benches emptying.

“I don’t have anything against [Chisholm], I just saw that he said something,” said Garcia. “I don’t know what he said, I just saw that he did.”

In a champagne-soaked visitors' clubhouse, Chisholm all but gave a transcript of the grievances he expressed in the heat of battle.

“I just felt like he tried to go and injure Volpe because he was being a sore loser,” said Chisholm. “He was talking a lot on Instagram and Twitter and stuff. I do the same thing, but I'm not gonna go and try and injure somebody if they're winning a game, and I didn't like that, so I told him we don't do that on this side and I'm always gonna stick up for my guys.”

Naturally, the Royals wanted to do the same. But the situation resolved itself after a couple of minutes and the sides got back to baseball, and the completion of a hard-fought series in which all four games were decided by two runs or less.

“Yeah, Volpe had the ball, blocked the bag, Maikel probably didn't care for that too much, and it got a little chippy,” said Kansas City manager Matt Quatraro.

Thinking back to those old clips he’s seen from the late ‘70s, Yankees manager Aaron Boone couldn’t help but chuckle when comparing it to what happened on Thursday.

“Yeah, it was like, if there was some kind of upset over the slide or whatever, we should just go back and show a little Hal McRae and Willie Randolph and we'll all laugh at ourselves,” said Boone.