KANSAS CITY -- Emotions ran high in the sixth inning of the Royals’ 5-4 loss to the Indians on Wednesday night at Kauffman Stadium, and it ultimately spiraled into another Cleveland comeback against a tested and exhausted bullpen as Kansas City suffered its fourth straight loss and third in this series.

In the span of one batter, manager Mike Matheny, pitching coach Cal Eldred and starter Brady Singer were all ejected by home-plate umpire and crew chief Angel Hernandez.

“Just built-up frustration,” Matheny said. “That’s a good way to sum it up.”

After a confusing play in Tuesday night’s game that involved a call by Hernandez as the first-base umpire, he was part of two disputed calls on Wednesday. Things were going well for the Royals to start the contest: They jumped out to a 4-0 lead on Cleveland ace Shane Bieber, and Singer was cruising through five scoreless innings.

But the sixth inning was pivotal.

With one out, Singer walked Jake Bauers. Singer got into a 2-2 count on José Ramírez and threw a pitch up and in, which Hernandez ruled a hit-by-pitch. Hernandez seemed to signal as if the ball had skimmed Ramírez’s jersey, and upon replay, it looked like it could have caught Ramírez’s fingers before landing in catcher Salvador Perez’s glove.

The Royals thought it should be a strikeout on a foul tip, but their challenge was unsuccessful as the call was ruled as stands.

“I heard the bat,” Perez said. “They were maybe confused with what they saw, maybe touched his finger, that’s what they saw. But I heard it. I heard his bat. It was a foul ball, a foul tip, and it should be an out. … When you get hit in the hand, right away, it’s sensitive, so you’re going to [show it] or something. I didn’t see Ramírez do anything. So it’s kind of like -- you know. I heard the foul tip.”

“It didn’t seem clear,” Matheny added. “The whole thing looked funny, didn’t look right. And I didn’t see any obvious sign in the replay. They’ve got better looks at it than we do, but it doesn’t change your frustration and your emotion level. You can never take that out of the game no matter how many replays you have to tell you what actually happened. Guys are going to let their emotions roll through because this means a lot to us.

“And you can’t help, regardless of what you see, you can’t just erase what you feel.”

The call put two on base for Eddie Rosario, who lined a two-run double to center field, and Singer walked Franmil Reyes on four pitches. With Josh Naylor batting, Singer attempted to pick off Rosario at second -- but Hernandez called a balk. Matheny immediately ran out to talk with Hernandez.

Hernandez seemed to hear him out, but as Matheny walked back to the dugout, Hernandez ejected Eldred, who came sprinting out of the dugout, red hot and arms flailing. Matheny held Eldred back while also arguing with Hernandez, which got Matheny tossed as well.

While Eldred, Matheny and Hernandez were arguing near home plate, Perez was walking Singer back to the mound to try to calm him down, too.

“He was complaining about the foul thing, and I said, ‘Hey, we’re still winning by two runs at that time, so just keep focus and try to do your job,’” Perez said. “Forget about what’s going on. … I just tried to tell him to calm down, be focused on the next guy and make his pitches and try to get out of that inning.”

When everything settled back down enough to continue the game, Singer got Naylor to ground out for the second out. That’s when bench coach Pedro Grifol came out to get the ball from Singer and bring in reliever Scott Barlow.

As Singer was walking off the field, he jawed at Hernandez, who promptly ejected Singer from the game. Second baseman Whit Merrifield sprinted from the mound to Singer and ushered him into the dugout.

“It’s an emotional time,” Singer said. “I’m out there wanting to pitch, out there fighting for the team. It’s a big game, we’re trying to get back into the series. And you got that stuff going on."

Perez thought Singer handled his emotion well after the hit-by-pitch call.

“He handled it pretty good,” Perez said. “Sometimes you need to let them know. That’s what I think. It’s kind of funny, but honestly, he made some pretty good pitches. It was a strike, it wasn’t close or not close. It was a strike. You see the [replay], you see the game, it’s a strike. I don’t know why Angel would call that kind of pitch. I don’t know.”

Barlow got the Royals out of the sixth and seventh with a one-run lead, but Jakob Junis allowed the tying homer to Ramírez in the eighth on a cutter that missed its intended spot.

In the ninth, Wade Davis allowed the go-ahead homer to Josh Naylor, and the Royals went down in order in the bottom of the inning. Kansas City relievers had been lights-out in situations with leads like Wednesday’s to start the season, but it was the third consecutive game Cleveland built a comeback on the bullpen.

“That one hurts more than maybe any other one this year,” Matheny said. “They mean the same as far as the effort we give, but some losses just seem to sting worse than others, all things considered.”