While the New York Yankees defeated the Baltimore Orioles 4-1 on Friday, what happened in the ninth inning of the game will probably be remembered more than the final result.
Benches cleared after Baltimore’s Heston Kjerstad was hit in the head by a Clay Holmes pitch with one out in the ninth inning. Both announce crews had interesting takes on the incident.
While Kjerstad getting hit was what ultimately what triggered the benches clearing, it wasn’t immediate. The more immediate concern was around Kjerstad’s health. While he was quickly given concussion testing and taken out of the game, Kjerstad wasn’t down for long. Fortunately his helmet did its job.
But as Baltimore manager Brandon Hyde was walking away, he exchanged some tense words with New York’s dugout. At that point, Hyde, who was carrying Kjerstad’s helmet started toward the Yankee dugout. And while he didn’t get there, both benches and bullpens cleared, converging around home plate. Things didn’t get too out of hand. Still, this was significantly more physical than a lot of bench-clearing incidents are.
Ben McDonald, an analyst for the Orioles on MASN, recalled what happened when the two teams last met in New York.
“This stems from the last time the Orioles were in New York,” McDonald said. “Aaron Judge gets hit. Then the Yankees throw at Gunnar Henderson and then hit him the next day. And this is where all this starts from.”
“This stems from the last time the Orioles were in New York. Aaron Judge gets hit. Then the Yankees throw at Gunnar Henderson and then hit him the next day. And this is where all this starts from.”
Ben McDonald weighs in from the MASN side. pic.twitter.com/Hp6J7fiDBM
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) July 13, 2024
Michael Kay and Jeff Nelson, calling the game for the Yankees on the YES Network, had a different spin.
“You certainly never advocate for something like this,” Kay said. “But sometimes something like this wakes a team up.”
“It does,” an agreeing Nelson added. “It can fuel some really good energy going forward, when you have a little melee and benches clear.”
“You certainly never advocate for something like this. But sometimes something like this wakes a team up.”
“It does. It can fuel some really good energy going forward, when you have a little melee and benches clear.”
Michael Kay and Jeff Nelson on a Yankees/Orioles scrap. pic.twitter.com/DdKJdaniRc
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) July 13, 2024
Interestingly enough, the wake-up call could apply to either team. While the Orioles and Yankees are the top two teams in the American League East, both teams headed into Friday’s game on a pronounced slide.
And to be fair, Kay and Nelson aren’t wrong about things like this sparking it team. It wouldn’t be the first time it happened. But it’s one thing if it’s a fight triggered by a physical play on the bases, a brushback pitch, or even a hitter getting hit by a pitch somewhere on the back of his body. As Kay initially noted, you really don’t want to see it happen after a hitter takes a 97 mile-per-hour fastball in the helmet.
