Anderson HR reaction sets off Royals
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — There will be no yelling of the word ‘‘ Wooo!’’ — if indeed it is a word — when playing against the Royals.
That seemed to be at least part of the message sent to shortstop Tim
Anderson and the White Sox after Anderson led off the evening portion of the split doubleheader Saturday with a home run. The Royals won the game 5- 2 to salvage a split.
Anderson was a tad slow out of the batter’s box as he admired the blast. He appeared to yell a bit as he rounded first base. He pointed to the sky as he crossed home plate — nothing unusual there — but Royals catcher Salvador
Perez had words for him. ‘‘ I’ve hit some homers,’’ Perez said he told Anderson. ‘‘ I keep running the bases. I don’t get loud like you.’’
In the bottom of the inning, after Perez reached second base, he and Anderson came together and the teams’ benches and bullpens cleared. When Anderson failed to field what was ruled an infield hit by Abraham Almonte later in the inning, Royals left- hander Danny
Duffy — who allowed two homers to Anderson on Opening Day — stood on the dugout rail and gave him a long, loud mock cheer.
Anderson was booed by the fans at Kauffman Stadium as he walked to the plate for his second at- bat. After left- hander Eric Skoglund struck him out, he gave Anderson a long stare and an earful on his way off the field. Anderson looked back and laughed.
‘‘ I’m having fun,’’ Anderson said. ‘‘ I play the game with my heart, and I put a lot of work into it. I’m not going to change because of that. It’s not the first incident. It probably won’t be the last.’’
Did he and Perez reach an understanding?
‘‘ I don’t know,’’ Anderson said. ‘‘ Obviously, I don’t care.’’
Full day’s work
Right- hander Carson Fulmer went a career- high seven innings, topped 100 pitches for the first time and — most important — allowed zero runs in the Sox’ 8- 0 victory in the first game. He escaped a basesloaded jam in the first and a two- hit seventh on a day when sparing the bullpen was a key.
‘‘ I would’ve gone out there and thrown the eighth if I could’ve,’’ said Fulmer, now 2- 1 with a 4.32 ERA. ‘‘ I train a lot. I train to have the stamina to go all nine innings. From the first pitch to the last pitch, I felt I was real consistent in everything that I did.’’ The Sox called up right- hander
Dylan Covey from Class AAA Charlotte to start the second game. Covey allowed four runs — only one earned — in six innings, his career record falling to 0- 8.
No doubt, Stout
Three days after making his major- league debut, Royals reliever Eric Stout, who grew up a Cubs fan in Glen Ellyn and played high school ball at St. Francis in Wheaton, got into his second game. He allowed two runs in 1„ innings in the first game of the day.
Stout was optioned to Class AAA Omaha afterward, but he wasn’t down about it.
‘‘ It was a dream come true,’’ he said. ‘‘ It was a lot of fun. I had a bunch of family and friends in town for my debut. A cool experience overall. I’m glad I got my feet wet and am ready to go to work now.’’