BALTIMORE — Brandon Hyde, the former minor league catcher turned manager, was charging toward the New York Yankees dugout, digging his heels in for leverage, pushing his legs out, only to be thwarted by a backup catcher who had started the day celebrating his 25th birthday and ended it with the goal of putting out, not lighting, fireworks.
“I thought it was a cool birthday,” Austin Wells said later Friday night, the chaos at the end of the Yankees’ 4-1 victory over the Baltimore Orioles behind us.
“I was trying to limit the damage.”
It’s an appropriate sentiment both for the bench brawl that turned the bottom of the ninth inning — and for a Yankees team that inspires terror among its fans.
They had lost or split their last eight series dating back to mid-June when they arrived at Camden Yards looking to cut into Baltimore’s two-game lead in the American League East before the teams broke for the All-Star break on Sunday.
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They cut that deficit in half on Friday and unwittingly threw kerosene on what is becoming an epic rivalry on the field and spicy off it.
“The intensity level has been pretty much the same all year,” said Yankees ace Gerrit Cole, the winning pitcher Friday.
“So I expect that to remain consistent.”
The spark was lit a month ago in the Bronx, when Yankees superstar Aaron Judge was hit in the hand by a pitch but avoided serious injury that night, second baseman Gleyber Torres also had one.
Yankees starting pitcher Nestor Cortes responded by hitting the tower on Orioles star shortstop Gunnar Henderson; a day later, reliever Victor Gonzalez hit Henderson in the shoulder.
This week, the Yankees took the nobler route in the Bronx and the two teams met in Baltimore, with the Orioles holding a 5-2 advantage in the season series. It looked like the Yankees would win the opener without incident, so much so that Cole pitched his best game after recovering from an elbow injury and Judge hit his 33rd home run.
And then the rain came in time for the ninth inning, a humid 81-degree night turned humid. Yankees closer Clay Holmes struck out Jordan Westburg for the first out of the inning, but when he tried to throw a sinker at the gate to left-handed hitter Heston Kjerstad, he fumbled it.
The 97-mph pitch flew high and inside and the rookie Kjerstad couldn’t move, ducking just enough for the ball to hit the bottom of his helmet. He stayed in the batter’s box for a few moments, got up, was examined by trainer Brian Ebel and shuffled toward first base before being diverted to the dugout; he will be placed in concussion protocol Saturday.
Holmes wanted to express his feeling that there was no intention of doing so. Hyde did not seem receptive to these comments.
Someone—coach, player, whatever—said something from the Yankees dugout, and Hyde, his rabbit ears probably pricked up for such a comment, turned and walked quickly toward the Yankees dugout.
“I was just walking back and I heard things coming from their dugout, so I reacted the way I did,” Hyde said. “I saw them pointing at me and stuff, so I reacted the way I did.”
And a touch of chaos was added to the race for the pennant.
Hyde didn’t get much further than the left-handed batter’s box by the time Wells – in the game only because Jose Trevino injured his quadriceps – dug in.
A mosh pit formed around them, the bullpens ran into it and words – “You have to be there (to know),” Judge said with a smile – were exchanged.
“Any time a player gets hit in the head, emotions run high,” said Orioles outfielder Austin Hays, who replaced Kjerstad on the bases. “I don’t think Clay was trying to hit Heston in the head at that point. He was probably just trying to sinker forward and he missed.”
“That ball hit Heston really hard. I really hope he’s okay. We’ll pray tonight. Any time you see players getting hit in the hands and the head, it’s dangerous and players can miss games because of it.
“The emotions are always higher when you see a guy getting hit up high. I think that’s what we saw there.”
There was little disagreement from the other side on this point.
“It was totally understandable, I think,” Cole said. “Man, it’s raining so much tonight. Everybody knows it was tough to hold the baseball tonight. The guy got hit in the head.”
“So it’s understandable that Brandon got upset. And he defends his players.”
Said Judge: “He’s their manager. He’s been a great manager for them for many years. He always supports his players, so I think he’ll be able to step up to the plate in a situation like that for his team.”
“I have a lot of respect for him and what he does. So I think if there’s a time when I can stand up…”
“I thought he looked like our ace”
The series resumes Saturday, but Hyde likely won’t be there to watch. A suspension from Major League Baseball is likely, and managers can’t appeal such a sanction.
If tensions rise, it will be substitute coach Fredi Gonzalez who will preside over the game. But the teams’ loftier goals could outweigh any overt displays of machismo or vigilante justice.
“I don’t think so. We play too much to get caught up in that,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “We’ve got to play well, we’ve got to win games.”
“Same to them. I hope we can play baseball tomorrow.”
They’ll have a hard time matching Friday’s talent. Cole, the reigning Cy Young Award winner making his fifth start of the season, confirmed that the past month has truly been his personal spring training, strengthening his arm after a first-half elbow scare sidelined him.
He saw the sixth inning and the 100-pitch mark for the first time this season. He came back from a 3-0 count to freeze Henderson on a curveball to leave the tying run on base in the third inning to start an 11-strikeout streak.
He pushed his fastball velocity to 99 mph, ending his night with a nifty return trap jumper and leaving a tired bullpen with just nine outs to go.
“I thought he looked like our ace,” Boone said. “He had a little bit of an off-kilter side, but he was having fun. There was a joy in the way he pitched.”
“He’s one of the best pitchers of his generation. He’s an ace and he likes a challenge, he likes to compete. It was fun to watch him compete in the moment.”
And my God, the Yankees really needed it.
Their rotation was excellent through the first month of the season, after which rookie Luis Gil took over during a dominant May, earning American League Pitcher of the Month honors. Yet by the time Cole returned, they imploded.
Gil? He has a 7.00 ERA in his last six starts, after a 0.60 ERA in his previous six. Carlos Rodon has a 10.57 ERA in his last five starts, after a 14-start stretch with a 2.93 ERA. It’s no coincidence that the Yankees went 11-3 during his good stretch, and 0-5 during his bad one.
Boiling point
But the Orioles are struggling right now, too. They were swept at home this week for the first time in three years, by the Chicago Cubs, no less. On Friday, they gave the ball to Cade Povich, a left-hander making his seventh major league start.
“I think we’ll find out in the first inning. His first innings were a little rough,” Hyde said before the game. “He had some issues with his command.”
You could say that. Povich gave up five walks in his 5⅓-inning outing, allowing a huge home run to Judge over the big left-field wall. The Orioles learned; Judge hit an 0-2 curveball over the fence, but saw only one strike in his other four plate appearances, all ending in walks.
Baltimore’s offense isn’t any better. The Orioles are hitting .182 (13-for-82) with runners in scoring position in 10 games this month, and haven’t been able to extend their lead over the Yankees to more than three games even though New York has lost seven of nine.
There’s only one game left to play. Someone will have at least a one-game lead before the break, and both teams are almost certainly in the playoffs.
The title of Eastern champion will not be known for almost three months. The next stage will take place on Saturday, probably in a more serene context.
“I know we got a lot of their guys hit by pitches. They got us,” Judge said.
“It got a bit out of hand over there.”