Yankees' Anthony Volpe gets hilarious revenge on KC Royals enemy with awkward tag

Was Anthony Volpe's swipe tag on Maikel Garcia of the Kansas City Royals an accident? Or was it premeditated last October when the Yankees polished off the ALDS in KC?

There was a whole lot of screaming going on that series, from Patrick Mahomes in his KC Chiefs teammate Gehrig Dieter's face, to Garcia on the infield dirt behind Gerrit Cole. Everyone knows that the quickest way to unnerve Cole is to mess around behind him, beyond his control. Who knows if that's why Garcia had the quick trigger he did last October?

Regardless of the motivation, the Royals utility man chirping Volpe and causing the benches to clear after a relatively routine tag was one of the enduring images of the series. In fact, it might've been the most enduring image that didn't involve Giancarlo Stanton admiring a 10,000 foot tater.

In case you forgot things getting steamy last October (and the Yankees immediately providing a rebuke of Garcia's oddly confident tweets mid-series), Volpe gave everyone an accidental reminder (and ring of the bell) on Wednesday. With two outs in the sixth and the series on the line, Volpe officially closed Clarke Schmidt's pitching line by taking a throw from Austin Wells and planting it directly in Garcia's face.

Oh, yeah. Right. These guys hate each other. Smack.

Yankees' Anthony Volpe smacks Kansas City Royals infielder Maikel Garcia in the face with a tag. Revenge.

The Yankees laughed last in October. Whether they'll do so again tonight remains up for grabs.

Either way, the Yankees began this series in the dumps after being dismantled by the San Francisco Giants, and they'll close it with a series victory against several of their historic nemeses (Seth Lugo, meet Michael Wacha).

They'll also wrap it up without having taken leather to the mouth (though, yes, there are still a few innings to go, so Garcia has a chance for a rebuttal).

All things considered, it's not a bad night to be Anthony Volpe, who Torpedoed a two-run double into the left field corner, and put an exclamation point on a slick inning-ending play by mucking up the face of his sneaky forgotten rival.