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Jazz Chisholm Jr. had some words for Maikel Garcia following the New York Yankees’ ALDS victory over the Kansas City Royals.
Garcia slid hard into second base as Yankees infielder Anthony Volpe was applying the tag in the sixth inning of Thursday’s series-clinching victory. That led to some tensions flaring between the two teams, and Chisholm expressed his belief that Garcia’s actions reflected him being a “sore loser.”
“I just felt like he tried to go in and injure Volpe because he was being a sore loser. You know what I mean?” Chisholm said, per the Associated Press. “He was talking a ton on Instagram and Twitter and stuff. I do the same thing, but I’m not going to injure somebody if they’re winning a game. I didn’t like that. I told him we don’t do that on this side, and I’m going to stick up for my guys.”
The Yankees won Game 4 and now return to the ALCS for the second time in the past three seasons. New York will await the Detroit Tigers or the Cleveland Guardians in the Championship Series and will hope to advance to the World Series for the first time since 2009.
Chisholm was a deadline acquisition by the Yankees and has played well since arriving in the Bronx. He hit .273/.325.500 with 11 home runs and 23 RBIs in 46 games and despite a quiet bat in the ALDS, he remains a formidable force in the lineup.
The Royals reached the postseason for the first time since 2015 and knocked off the Baltimore Orioles in the Wild Card Round. While the loss to the Yankees was a disappointment, it was still a monumental step for a franchise that is now seeing the rewards of a rebuild.
Expectations will likely shoot up following this season, and the confrontation between Garcia and Chisholm shows that a rivalry between the two ball clubs may have been revitalized.
