Yost stands up for Ventura: 'There's more to this thing'

Ned Yost remains steadfastly in Yordano Ventura's corner.

The Kansas City Royals right-hander has come under fire for throwing at Baltimore Orioles third baseman Manny Machado on Tuesday, which touched off a bench-clearing brawl. Many have placed the blame for the incident squarely on Ventura's shoulders given his reputation as something of a troublemaker on the mound.

Yost came to Ventura's defense Wednesday, before the teams squared off again, believing Machado should get more blame for escalating the situation.

"Everybody wants to jump on Ventura's maturity. But they look at the incident, where (Machado) got hit," Yost told reporters. "They didn't see the at-bat before, when Manny was screaming at him, 'Don't throw inside to me, don't throw inside.'"

Ventura explained after the game that the pitch that hit Machado and triggered the melee "got away" from him and said it was unintentional.

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In the aftermath of the brawl, reports surfaced that the Royals have had enough of the 25-year-old and were shopping him in trade talks. That report was quickly refuted, and general manager Dayton Moore even showed his own confidence in Ventura by calling him a "fearless" pitcher.

Yost applauded Ventura's willingness to pitch Machado inside after their contentious meeting earlier in the game, as well as his apparent lack of response to Machado's chirping.

"What did Ventura do (after Machado yelled at him)? Did he turn around and say anything? He didn't look at him," Yost said. "Obviously, when you've got one of the best hitters in the American League who doesn't like being pitched inside, then don't you just normally think: 'I'm gonna go back in there, start him off in there.'

"He gets thrown into the spotlight that he's guilty; there's more to this thing."