Athletics' Lawrie on Royals' Herrera throwing behind him: 'That’s some bull----'

Cooler heads failed to prevail between the Kansas City Royals and Oakland Athletics as the bad blood from the series opener spilled into Sunday's finale.  

With two outs in the bottom of the first inning, Athletics starter Scott Kazmir drilled Royals outfielder Lorenzo Cain in the lower leg with a first-pitch fastball. 

Kazmir was not ejected as both dugouts were warned by the umpires, though that didn't sit well with Royals manager Ned Yost, who was tossed for arguing the decision. 

"Anyone who has a feel for the game, they would know it’s not intentional," Kazmir said of the pitch. "I don’t think anyone tries to throw at someone's toe."

Trailing 2-1 in the eighth inning, Royals reliever Kelvin Herrera threw a 100-mph fastball behind Athletics third baseman Brett Lawrie, leading to an ejection for the right-hander along with Royals bench coach Don Wakamatsu and outfielder Jarrod Dyson.

"You don’t throw behind someone and walk away when you throw 100, and say, the next time I face you, I’m gonna hit you in the head," Lawrie told reporters following the game. "That's some bullshit, and he needs to pay for that. That ain't OK."

Herrera denied purposely throwing at Lawrie and said he pointed to his head to tell Lawrie to think about it and not that he was going to target his head. 

"I had a bad grip on it," Herrera said. "It started raining pretty good."

The events Sunday stemmed from incidents that transpired earlier in the series. 

During the opener Friday, Lawrie slid into the leg of Royals shortstop Alcides Escobar while trying to break up a double play, resulting in a left knee sprain for the shortstop. 

Lawrie said he reached out to apologize to Escobar and claimed he didn't intend to cause an injury, though that didn't save him from retaliation. 

Royals right-hander Yordano Ventura plunked Lawrie with a 99-mph fastball in the Saturday game, resulting in an ejection for the pitcher and the benches clearing. Lawrie decided to take the high road and not respond, though it was not handled so well by some of his teammates. 

"We knew it was coming," outfielder Josh Reddick told Jane Lee of MLB.com. "After a home run, down five, he's got nothing left to look forward to. We were on the top step waiting for it."

The Royals went on to win Sunday's game 4-2. 

(Videos courtesy: MLB.com)