CHICAGO _ Whether it was a wild pitch or a mild message about bat flips, home plate umpire Mark Carlson wasn't interested in any excuse from Royals starter Glenn Sparkman after a changeup that hit White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson almost in the head in the second inning.
There simply was no excuse for the White Sox blowing a six-run lead and letting the Royals climb back in the sixth and eighth innings to tie the game at 7.
But Anderson kept his cool in both situations on a 65-degree night at Guaranteed Rate Field on Wednesday, declining to react to the Royals' provocation _ real or imagined _ and quietly exacting a bit of revenge with an eighth-inning RBI double in an 8-7 nail-biter of win that should not have been.
After Anderson's plunking, there was no bench clearing like April 17 when Anderson flipped his bat after a home run and Royals pitcher Brad Keller later hit him.
But the remnants of that day's bad blood (and an even deeper history between Anderson and the Royals) could be felt Wednesday.
What was in question was intent: Sparkman's second pitch in Anderson's first at-bat was an 85.5 mph changeup that rose up and inside and grazed Anderson on the brim of his helmet, knocking it off.
Sparkman looked down at his hand as if questioning his grip. Anderson put a hand on his hip and looked at Sparkman but didn't motion toward the mound.
Carlson pointed at Sparkman and gave an emphatic gesture that the Royals pitcher was ejected after an inning-plus.
Royals catcher Martin Maldonado pleaded Sparkman's case and manager Ned Yost came out to argue with Carlson, to no avail. Sox coaches Nick Capra and Daryl Boston surrounded Anderson, and manager Rick Renteria arrived soon afterward to calm Anderson, but the shortstop didn't appear to need calming.
In past interviews, Anderson acknowledged that his bat flip and other ways of expressing emotional moments in the game has not only rubbed the Royals the wrong way but offends some baseball traditionalists. But Anderson has said he doesn't plan to change.
The shortstop returned to the starting lineup Wednesday after missing four straight starts with wrist soreness.
Anderson entered play leading the American League with a .337 average and looking like a strong candidate to make the All-Star Game.
"Huge," Renteria said about his return. "He's a big part of who we are. Obviously we've missed him for the last few days. The guys have done a nice job of picking him up. But we're glad to have him back in there. He's a big piece of who we are."
After the Royals fought back to a 7-7 tie, Sox catcher James McCann got a hold of Ian Kennedy's 3-1 fastball and was taking a home run trot on a fly to right-center in the eighth but had to motor to second for a double when he saw it bounce off the wall.
Anderson came up to bat with two outs and drove an RBI double down the third-base line that got past the glove of Hunter Dozier, who slammed his hand to the dirt in frustration.
