BALTIMORE — The benches cleared for the New York Yankees and the Baltimore Orioles as long-simmering tensions exploded after closer Clay Holmes hit Heston Kjerstad in the helmet in the ninth inning of Friday’s game at Camden Yards.
Orioles manager Brandon Hyde was ejected. He doubled back to point and scream at the Yankees’ dugout after tending to Kjerstad, who was on the ground for a while before walking up the first base line and then leaving the game.
Yankees, Orioles benches clear after Clay Holmes hits Heston Kjerstad in the helmet pic.twitter.com/GR66x3Fhj1
— Brendan Kuty 🧟♂️ (@BrendanKutyNJ) July 13, 2024
The Yankees won 4-1 and were ahead by that score when Holmes — pitching in the rain — hit Kjerstad with an errant 96.8-mph sinker in an 0-2 count and one out.
“Definitely wasn’t trying to hit him,” Holmes said.
Kjerstad stayed down for a while. When he stood, there was some jawing between Holmes and Hyde. Holmes said he was trying to tell Kjerstad that he didn’t mean to hit him and that he hoped he was OK.
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Once Kjerstad walked back into the dugout, the situation escalated.
Yankees catcher Austin Wells tried holding back Hyde, who tried shoving him out of the way. That was when both dugouts emptied. Even the relievers raced in from their bullpens.
“It’s an emotional time at that time,” Hyde told reporters. “I got my guy who just got hit right in the ear. I’m upset and then I see their dugout. They’re waving at me and yelling at me, so I just didn’t appreciate it at the time.”
As the benches cleared, several Yankees shot to the front line of the melee, including left fielder Alex Verdugo, catcher Jose Trevino and starting pitcher Carlos Rodón. Even ace Gerrit Cole was in on the action.
Right fielder Aaron Judge appeared to calm tensions when he walked into the middle of the fracas and started pushing members of the Orioles away from the Yankees. No punches appeared to be thrown.
The benches have been cleared in Camden Yards!
The Yankees and Orioles got into a scuffle after Clay Holmes hit Heston Kjerstad in the helmet with a pitch.
🎥 @MLB pic.twitter.com/S6t9qNaWZf
— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) July 13, 2024
Yankees manager Aaron Boone said he understood Hyde’s frustration.
“Nobody ever wants to see that,” Boone said. “Scary in the moment. First and foremost, hope (Kjerstad is) OK. Emotional moment.”
Boone didn’t rule out reaching out to Hyde overnight to make amends.
“I would characterize it as good, hard baseball,” Cole said. “Just good baseball.”
It was a muggy 81 degrees at first pitch. Cole, who gave up one run over six innings, said he had difficulty gripping the baseball all night.
“It’s so wet out there tonight. … Anybody knows it was tough to grip the baseball tonight,” Cole said. “With that said, the guy got hit in the head. So, it’s understandable that Brandon is pissed. He’s defending his players.”
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There were no incidents after the game. Holmes retired the next two hitters he faced without issue.
There seemed to be tension between the sides in Game 1 of the series that stemmed from the last time the teams met in the Bronx and both sides hit a fair amount of each other’s batters. When the teams met for a three-game set June 18-20, a combined four Orioles players were hit by pitches compared to two Yankees.
The teams are vying for first place in the American League East, with the Yankees pulling to within one game of the first-place O’s with Friday night’s win.
They face each other again at 4 p.m. ET Saturday. Could Friday’s bad blood leak into Game 2?
“I hope not,” Boone said. “I don’t think so. Playing for too much to get caught up in that. We’ve got to play well. We’ve got to win ball games. Same for them.”
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(Photo: Mitchell Layton / Getty Images)
Brendan Kuty is a Staff Writer for The Athletic covering the New York Yankees and MLB. He has covered the Yankees since 2014, most recently as a beat reporter for NJ Advance Media. Brendan was honored to receive the 2022 New Jersey Sportswriter of the Year award from the National Sports Media Association. He attended William Paterson University and the County College of Morris, and he is from Hopatcong, N.J.
