BALTIMORE — As bench-clearing situations go, this one felt like an overreaction.
“We got tangled up there, emotions from both sides kind of went off,” said Baltimore’s Heston Kjerstad, who was right in the middle of it. “I don’t think it was too much.”
Benches and bullpens cleared in the fourth inning of the Orioles’ 5-4 win over the New York Yankees on Wednesday night. Kjerstad stole second and second baseman Pablo Reyes had to leap over him to catch the throw. Reyes came down on top of Kjerstad’s head and neck area — it appeared the fielder had little choice — and then Kjerstad said something.
“A couple words there that I felt like disrespected me in the heat of the moment,” Reyes said through an interpreter. “Later on, he kind of toned down a little bit.”
Whatever was said, it seemed excessive when the two were quickly joined by a much larger congregation of players around second base. But the situation de-escalated quickly enough.
“Maybe at the beginning he thought I did it on purpose,” Reyes said. “But obviously, he couldn’t see the throw or how the play really developed.”
Kjerstad was hit on the head in July by a pitch from then-Yankees reliever Clay Holmes, causing benches to clear. Kjerstad ended up on the concussion list after that game, but he did not appear injured this time.
The near-fight ended up being a mere footnote on a night the Orioles secured a much-needed series win over New York. Baltimore took the opener and the finale by a run each while losing the middle game 15-3.
The Orioles finished April in last place with a 12-18 record but winning their second series of the season gave them something they can try to build on.
“Good teams have bad months,” Baltimore manager Brandon Hyde said. “We’re really focused on just one game at a time, one series at a time, trying to win as many series as possible. I loved how we came out, swung the bat well early.”
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