Cleveland Indians and Kansas City Royals Clear Benches Twice in 10-Inning Duel

The Cleveland Indians and the Kansas City Royals cleared the benches twice in brawls during Saturday's game that the Indians won in 10 innings.

Royals left-handed pitcher Jonathan Sanchez hit Shin-Soo Choo in his knee, with a pitch in the third inning. Both teams' benches cleared and erupted into a brawl.

In the bottom of the third inning, Cleveland starting pitcher Jeanmar Gomez threw a pitch that hit Mike Moustakas in the buttocks, clearing the benches again.

Gomez, third baseman Jack Hannahan and manager Manny Acta were all ejected from the game.

Choo has been hit three times so far in the 2012 season. He agreed that Sanchez did not hit him intentionally. Sanchez hit Choo with a pitch last year on June 24 and broke his left thumb which required surgery, sending him to the disabled list for over six weeks.

Acta said that he didn't think that Sanchez hit Choo intentionally, but said that Choo is probably a little sensitive from the injury that Sanchez caused last year.

After both benches and bullpens cleared, order was restored and the Indians scored five runs in the third inning.

Moustakas said after the game, "The guy hadn't given up a hit all day and they're up five runs. If he's going to hit me and put me on first, that's fine. So I really didn't think ... but after the first one on the inner half I said, 'All right, there's a pretty good chance I'm getting it,' and I ended up getting another one."

Acta said, "I believe he's trying to protect his teammate. He went overboard a little bit on that one. First of all, there was a warning in place. Once you hit a guy, you're going to be thrown out of the game. That early in the game, it really taxes your bullpen."

He was correct. The Indians went through seven pitchers from the bullpen as they lost their grasp on a 9-2 lead against the Royals.

In the end, Choo got his revenge for being hit. In the 10th inning, he hit a two-run double leading the Indians to win 11-9.

Some believe that hitting batters intentionally to protect teammates is part of the game. Personally, I think that it's ridiculous. Someone will eventually get seriously injured, or someone could die from a head injury or a ruptured organ.

If I became angry with someone and threw something at him, I'd get a free trip to my local jail.