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Athletics third baseman Brett Lawrie took to Twitter to explain that his slide into second base with nobody out in the top of the seventh inning was not intended to hurt shortstop Alcides Escobar:
Hope everyone knows I am playing this game hard .. I am never trying to hurt anyone in any type of situation , I'm playing for my teammates
— Brett Lawrie (@blawrie13) April 18, 2015
Trying to win all the time !! I would never try to hurt anyone ever , just know that I'm playing my ass off and wouldn't ever hurt someone
— Brett Lawrie (@blawrie13) April 18, 2015
Escobar was receiving a shovel pass at second base from third baseman Mike Moustakas on a ball that deflected off pitcher Kelvin Herrera's foot when Lawrie slid late:
Brett Lawrie appeared to exchange words with one of the other Royals fielders, and the benches cleared briefly without much of anything happening. Escobar was injured on the play and left the game with what was announced as a mild strain of the left knee, leaving him day-to-day. While replay review appeared to indicate Brett Lawrie might have been safe on the play, review officials "could not definitively determine whether the runner's hand was on second base," according to MLB.com's Jane Lee.
While Andy McCullough of the Kansas City Star seemed to think a "fastball from Yordano Ventura will probably make contact with Brett Lawrie tomorrow," Royals manager Ned Yost downplayed the idea there was anything dirty about the play:
Yost doesn't blame Lawrie for slide. "Nah. ... it was a hard slide but I don’t think Lawrie was anticipating a throw." #Athletics
— Joe Stiglich (@JoeStiglichCSN) April 18, 2015
Former Royals player Billy Butler acted as peacemaker:
Lawrie plans to reach out to Escobar. Butler already relayed to Perez during last AB there were no bad intentions.
— Jane Lee (@JaneMLB) April 18, 2015
Ned Yost saw nothing, Brett Lawrie says he was just making a baseball play. All that's left is what the Royals on the field will do. Watch out if it's a blowout.
