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4 Royals, 2 White Sox suspended for fracas

Ventura (7 games), Volquez, Samardzija, Sale (5 each), Cain and Herrera (2 each) were punished

CHICAGO -- Seven players were disciplined by Major League Baseball for their roles in Thursday's on-field incident in the bottom of the seventh inning between the Royals and White Sox at U.S. Cellular Field.

Royals pitcher Yordano Ventura was suspended seven games, Edinson Volquez received five games, while outfielder Lorenzo Cain and righty Kelvin Herrera were each suspended two games. Herrera is already appealing a five-game suspension levied for throwing at A's third baseman Brett Lawrie on April 18.

White Sox pitchers Chris Sale and Jeff Samardzija were each suspended five games.

Those six players, as well as White Sox catcher Tyler Flowers, also received an undisclosed fine. "We understand that Major League Baseball has to do what they think is fair in situations like this," Royals manager Ned Yost said in a statement. "Now, we just have to wait for the appeals process to play out."

"I really appreciate the fact that it came down quickly," White Sox general manager Rick Hahn said of the suspension rulings. "Obviously Major League Baseball had their hands full with this one, and there's a lot of work that had to go into making these decisions. We appreciate the fact they were able to do so swiftly and allow the clubs more time to react and plan accordingly. That was perhaps not unexpected, but certainly was much appreciated. "

The fracas began at the close of the seventh inning, when White Sox outfielder Adam Eaton grounded the ball back to Ventura and then shouted at the Royals ace, who caught the ball and then held it toward Eaton and shouted something in return before throwing to first for the final out of the inning. Eaton never made it to the bag and turned back toward Ventura as the benches and bullpens of both teams emptied onto the field.

Cash Kruth is a reporter for MLB.com. Follow him on Twitter at @cashkruth.
Read More: Chicago White Sox, Kansas City Royals, Lorenzo Cain, Chris Sale, Yordano Ventura, Kelvin Herrera, Jeff Samardzija, Edinson Volquez