Royals Batter Cardinals on a Turbulent Night, 16-5

The biggest crowd to pack Kauffman Stadium since opening day saw five home runs, 10 doubles and one bench-clearing, shirt-ripping brawl.

“It was electric out there,” Royal catcher Mike Macfarlane said Saturday night after Kansas City beat St. Louis, 16-5, and evened the rematch of 1985 World Series foes at one game each. “It’s been two of the funnest games I can ever remember playing here.”

As the noisy, near-capacity throng of 39,291 looked on, both benches and bullpens came running onto the field when Johnny Damon got hit by a Mark Petkovsek pitch in the fourth inning. Jermaine Dye, who doubled earlier in the eight-run inning, had just hit a grand slam, and as Damon charged the mound, a wild melee ensued.

Royal starter Tim Belcher (12-12) had the front of his jersey ripped open while Manager Tony Muser and bench coach Jamie Quirk wrestled with Cardinals on the ground. Damon and Petkovsek were ejected, but there appeared to be no injuries.

Petkovsek said he wasn’t trying to hit anybody.

“It’s not part of my thinking. It’s not part of my game,” he said. “It’s a lonely feeling out there when you’re giving up runs like that.”

Belcher wasn’t so sure. The Royals’ Dean Palmer had been hit by a pitch from Manny Aybar (0-4) in the five-run second.