It wouldn’t be an AL East game without tensions rising. Benches and bullpens emptied.
Words, not punches, were exchanged. Whatever you want to make of the mid-game flare-up between the Baltimore Orioles and New York Yankees, it appears the O’s have a little fight in them.
Heston Kjerstad took exception to how Yankees second baseman Pablo Reyes landed after the latter leaped to catch a ball during Kjerstad’s stolen base attempt in the bottom of the fourth inning.
Reyes awkwardly landed on Kjerstad’s head as the Orioles right fielder slid safely into second base. Kjerstad popped up and spoke passionately at Reyes.
The benches cleared immediately, but the fracas lasted only minutes, with cooler heads prevailing quicker than most verbal disputes on an MLB diamond.
Maybe it was nothing. The two most directly involved in the situation agreed it didn’t mean much and was mostly fueled by adrenaline in the moment. Reyes said the emotions get “out of your control sometimes,” while Kjerstad had a similar view and said he “didn’t think it was too much.”
Aaron Judge’s response might have struck a different chord with the Orioles.
“It was a weird bench-clearing. The guy’s jumping up to make a play,” Judge said, per MLB.com. “I don’t know what he’s all mad about.”
A straightforward and fairly accurate response from Judge. Tensions never seemed to linger beyond the fourth inning.
However, can the Orioles see this as a slight? Hjerstad does, in his own right, have the freedom to react like he did. The fact that it never amounted to a physical altercation leads you to believe it was simply a heat of the moment exchange. Still, the fans have to love the response from the Orioles.
Orioles take series, and some mojo, from Yankees
The Orioles having Kjerstad’s back and following the matter with a series-clinching victory might be what Baltimore needed to ignite a May resurgence. The O’s are in last place in the AL East, 5 1/2 games behind the Yankees. They won 18 and 17 games in the last two Aprils. Baltimore won nine games last month.
The O’s will have to play catch-up for the rest of the season, already digging themselves a hole with five months left in the regular season. A 5-4 comeback win a day after losing by 12 runs is a great sign for Baltimore. There’s something to take from a series win at any part of the season against a division opponent. Against the Yankees? It might mean a little more to those players in the Orioles’ clubhouse.
Sometimes, all it takes is a weird hop or an unexpected scenario to spark a team trudging through the first month of the season. Make what you will of it, but the Orioles needed something. Then again, maybe it was nothing.
Video courtesy : Major League Baseball
