The right-hander hit Blaze Alexander in the seventh inning on Sunday, fracturing the infielder's left hand in the process.
Lucas Erceg wasn't interested in debating emotions after Sunday's benches-clearing moment in Baltimore. He kept coming back to the fact that the situation didn't make much sense.
The Kansas City Royals reliever insisted there was never any intent behind the fastball that struck Orioles infielder Blaze Alexander on the left hand during the seventh inning of Sunday's 8-2 loss. In Erceg's mind, the count, the score and even his own season all pointed toward the same conclusion.
"I've got like a 5-something ERA," Erceg said postgame, via MLB.com's Jake Rill. "I'm not going out there to hit guys and put guys on."
Rather than framing the incident as an unfortunate mistake, Erceg walked through the baseball reasoning behind the pitch. Already ahead in the count at 1-2, Erceg said he was attempting one of the quick pitches he regularly uses with two strikes. The fastball simply got away from him.
"I was telling him after I hit him, no ill intent there," Erceg said, via Rill. "I quick pitch to a lot of guys, especially with two-strike counts. ... I lost it a little bit up and in."
The explanation didn't stop the emotions from spilling over.
Alexander exchanged words with Erceg after being hit, Orioles manager Craig Albernaz stepped in before his infielder could leave the baseline, and within moments both benches and bullpens had emptied. No punches were thrown and no ejections followed, but the incident took on a different tone after the Orioles announced Alexander was diagnosed with a non-displaced fracture in his left hand.
Erceg admitted afterward that he never even caught what Alexander was saying.
"I just said, 'Brother, I'm just pitching out here,'" Erceg said, via Rill. "I don't know what he said. The crowd started going nuts."
The Royals clubhouse largely viewed the play through the same lens. First baseman Vinnie Pasquantino pointed directly to the count as the reason he never believed intent was involved.
"It's a 1-2 count. We're trying to get outs. We're not trying to give away free baserunners," Pasquantino said, via Rill. "I think that's a bad baseball mindset, personally, because why would we hit a guy right there? It's just common sense."
Pasquantino acknowledged Alexander had every reason to be frustrated after taking a fastball off the hand, especially while swinging the bat well, but he never believed the circumstances matched the reaction.
Whether anyone outside the Royals clubhouse accepts that explanation is another question entirely. Erceg never argued that Alexander shouldn't have been upset after taking a fastball off the hand. He insisted those few seconds unfolded very differently than they may have looked from the other side.
