The seventh inning of Sunday’s Orioles-Royals game turned into a mess in a hurry, and Blaze Alexander made sure Vinnie Pasquantino heard about it.
The flashpoint came after Kansas City reliever Lucas Erceg hit Alexander in the hand with a pitch at the bottom of the inning, right after Samuel Basallo had gone deep. Alexander took exception immediately, barking at Erceg and setting off a scene that brought both dugouts and bullpens onto the field. Baltimore eventually replaced Alexander with Coby Mayo.
Afterward, MLB writer Jake Rill relayed Pasquantino’s reaction to the incident, and the Royals first baseman also praised Alexander’s season.
“We had some up-and-in pitches the other day. To be honest, that’s a guy who’s hitting over .300 and is feeling good about himself that feels the need, when he gets hit, that he can say something. So credit to him for feeling good about himself like that.
“But he’s clearly not - it’s a 1-2 count. We’re trying to get outs.
We’re not trying to give away free baserunners. I think that’s a bad baseball mindset, personally, because why would we hit a guy right there?
It’s just common sense.
“But he feels good about what he’s doing right now, and credit to him, he’s been having a really good year. That was my perspective on it.”
Alexander didn’t let that sit for long. He fired back on X, pushing back on the idea that the pitch was intentional while also pointing to the two quick pitches that preceded it.
“Weird take.. Never thought it was intentional but the 2 quick pitches to try and catch me off guard led to me now missing games. Thanks for the compliments tho Big Foot.”
Benches and bullpens emptied between the Orioles and Royals after Blaze Alexander was plunked by Lucas Erceg pic.twitter.com/BNYAUBJhm4
— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) July 12, 2026
The hit-by-pitch now comes with a bigger consequence for Baltimore. Alexander said on the post that he’ll miss time because of the hand injury, and manager Craig Albernaz later said Alexander has a non-displaced fracture in his left hand.
Even with the injury, Alexander’s season has been a big one. He’s hitting .312 with four home runs, 29 RBIs, 12 doubles, two triples, and a .807 OPS. Pete Alonso also tried to lift the group after Alexander went down.
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