With three bench-clearing incidents so far this month — including Thursday night’s fracas with the White Sox — the Royals are gaining a reputation around Major League Baseball as a feisty bunch looking for trouble. But the viewpoint inside the Royals’ clubhouse is quite different.

White Sox left-hander Chris Sale went to the Royals’ clubhouse Thursday night after the on-field fracas in the bottom of the seventh inning had been settled, but cooler heads prevailed before anything escalated.

The news that outfielder Josh Hamilton is close to returning to the Rangers has his former teammates excited and ready to welcome him back.

Eric Hosmer slugged in the winning run in the 13th inning after a heated battle that included a seventh-inning fracas that resulted in the ejection of aces Chris Sale and Yordano Ventura and three other players.

Regardless of what others around Major League Baseball may think about him, Yordano Ventura still seems to have the unwavering support of his teammates in the Royals clubhouse — despite being involved in another incident Thursday night against the White Sox.

The benches-clearing fracas in the seventh inning of the Royals’ 3-2 victory in 13 innings Thursday night at U.S. Cellular Field could end up serving as a galvanizing force for the White Sox.

Yordano Ventura is too good for this. The Royals, for that matter, are too good for this. Yet here they sit again after a Thursday night fracas, which will have the 23-year-old ace and some of his teammates in trouble at the principal’s office with Joe Garagiola Jr. Come on, fellows. This is getting old. Even the Royals know it.

Bad blood between the White Sox and Royals that has simmered since the start of the season boiled over again on Thursday night during a benches-clearing incident at U.S. Cellular Field.

With a diverse set of scheduled starters for Friday, DraftKings owners could go in a variety of directions with lineup construction. Offensive stacks could be the norm on this day, when several talented lineups will be playing in hitter-friendly venues. The players listed below warrant special attention when filling out Friday lineups.

Drew Hutchison delivered a stellar eight-inning performance and the Blue Jays fought off a late Orioles charge to take a 7-6 victory and complete their first sweep of the season on Thursday night at Rogers Centre.

Kole Calhoun blasted a two-run homer off Jesse Chavez and Nick Tropeano pitched six scoreless innings in his season debut on Thursday afternoon, setting the tone in the Angels’ 2-0 victory over the A’s in Southern California.

For five innings against the Orioles on Thursday night, Blue Jays right-hander Drew Hutchison was pitching against history. Instead, he settled for his best start this season.

Tampa Bay pushed across a run in the ninth on a Rene Rivera walk-off single to claim a 2-1 win over the Boston Red Sox on Thursday night at Tropicana Field.

The Angels got only one hit in Thursday’s win, but Nick Tropeano shut out the A’s through six-plus innings, scattering five hits, walking one and striking out five.

The weekend brings several interesting divisional series and even one natural Interleague rivalry, and it comes just as the division races are starting to take shape. The streaking Mets have roared out to a 4 1/2-game edge in the National League East, but a few of the other divisions are tight at the top. Here’s a few matchups and games to look forward to on Friday.

Kevin Kiermaier continued to make the unbelievable look routine on Thursday night when he made a run-saving catch in the fifth inning of the Rays-Red Sox game.

If the Giants manage to alter the perceptions and make an odd-numbered year as memorable as the past three even-numbered ones, they might recall the past three days and a sweep of the Dodgers as the springboard.