A benches-clearing altercation ensued between the New York Yankees and Baltimore Orioles following a ninth-inning incident where Orioles outfielder Heston Kjerstad was struck in the head by a pitch from Yankees closer Clay Holmes.
Kjerstad exited the game immediately after the incident. Orioles manager Brandon Hyde was ejected for his involvement, citing dissatisfaction with reactions from the Yankees’ dugout during Kjerstad’s assessment, as reported by Jake Rill of MLB.com.
“I was walking back and I heard stuff from their dugout,” Hyde stated postgame, according to Steve Melewski of MASN. “I reacted the way I did.”
Yankees manager Aaron Boone clarified that Holmes had no intent to hit Kjerstad and expressed hopes that tensions wouldn’t carry over to the next game, per Brendan Kuty of The Athletic.
With a 4-1 win, New York closed the gap to one game behind Baltimore in the AL East standings.
