Bobby Witt Jr., 'just having fun,' falls single shy of cycle - ESPN

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — On a night where he was hit by a pitch, firing up his teammates, Bobby Witt Jr. fell a single short of the cycle, Salvador Perez and Hunter Renfroe also homered, and the Kansas City Royals defeated the Arizona Diamondbacks 10-4 on Monday night for their fourth straight victory.

Witt tripled in the first inning, doubled in the third and drilled a three-run homer to deep left-center in the fourth to get the hard part out of the way.

The crowd arose chanting «Bobby! Bobby!» when Witt came to the plate in the sixth in anticipation of a single and the first cycle by a Kansas City player in 34 years, but Arizona reliever Humberto Castellanos hit Witt with his first pitch, drawing loud boos. The pitch fired up Perez, who was on the top step of the dugout shouting over to the Diamondbacks, and the drama only continued from there.

In the seventh, Royals reliever John Schreiber hit Gabriel Moreno, and at that point, both benches were warned, and Arizona manager Torey Lovullo was ejected for arguing with plate umpire Jordan Baker after having to be held back. Perez appeared to exchange words with Lovullo during the scrum near the plate, as well.

Perez told reporters, after the win, that the home fans fired him up after Bobby Witt was hit an inning earlier.

«They want to get on the field and fight too,» he said. And Witt appreciated the support from him teammates, especially the 6-foot-3 veteran Perez, saying that «I don't know if I'd mess with him.»

Lovullo was asked about the exchange after the loss, telling reporters that «I never said anything to Salvador Perez. I love Salvador Perez. He's ben an unbelievable major league player and I'm a huge fan of his.»

Witt got another chance in the eighth but was retired