Kansas City Royals catcher Salvador Perez took issue with being on the receiving end of a 96-mph errant fastball from Tampa Bay Rays starter Chris Archer on Wednesday night.
With Tampa Bay leading 7-0 in the seventh inning en route to an eventual 12-1 victory, Archer hit Perez in the left elbow with a pitch. Words were exchanged, providing the emotional highlight of a game that had few of them, at least from the Royals' point of view.
Archer won for the first time in five starts since April 14 to help the Rays break a three-game losing streak. He scattered five singles and walked none, and his control is one of the reasons Perez had a problem with the pitch that hit him.
"Yeah, of course he threw at me. He's going to throw at me because I had two hits against him," Perez said. "I think he was mad. But I don't think that's the right way, you know? He never throws the first pitch inside."
Perez later called the episode "bulls---," according to the Kansas City Star.
"Honestly there was nothing malicious there," Archer said. "I've had some great interactions with him the past. He's a good hitter; I'm trying to pitch inside. There was no malicious intent with 96 mph.''
Asked if he understood Perez's angry reaction, Archer said: "No."
Royals manager Ned Yost said postgame that it's "hard for me to judge intent," according to the Kansas City Star.
"It's awful strange that as good as his command was, that one got away from him," Yost said. "Sal had hit the ball hard twice. It didn't make any sense to me, so it's hard to fathom."
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.