Two innings before Aaron Judge was hit by a pitch on his left hand Tuesday night, the Orioles were troubled by a “weird play” by third baseman Juan Soto in a 4-2 win over the Yankees.
Soto, who was leading off at second base, was running toward third base when Giancarlo Stanton hit a slow chop toward Baltimore’s Jordan Westberg.
As the ball and Westberg were coming toward Soto, Soto slowed down and made contact with Westberg, resulting in an inning-ending interference call against Soto.
Westberg left the game in the bottom of the second inning with a bruised left hip and was replaced by Ramon Urias, whose status is considered day-to-day.
“It was a weird play,” Orioles manager Brandon Hyde told reporters after the game. “You don’t see that kind of play very often. It was just a regular grounder, it just ran into him. I don’t know.”
Orioles shortstop Gunnar Henderson said he “didn’t really understand” what happened on the play.
“He had to make a play and it was just freakish,” Henderson said. According to the Baltimore Sun.
Tuesday marked the second time in three weeks that Soto was called out for fielder interference.
On May 29, in the first inning at Anaheim, with the bases loaded and no outs, Soto tried to make a run to second base after catching an infield pop fly by Stanton, but was hit by shortstop Zach Neto, who was also trying to make the catch, and the ball dropped.
Yankees manager Aaron Boone got into an argument with the umpire after the call and was ejected.
The 25-year-old Westberg, who also plays second base, has been one of the Orioles’ best players this season, just his second in the major leagues.
The 2020 first-round draft pick is batting .278 with an .836 OPS, 11 home runs and 42 RBIs.
