After the Yankees protested Tuesday that Aaron Judge and Gleyber Torres were hit by Baltimore pitches, whether intentional or not, the Bombers’ relief staff turned the tide against the Orioles at the stadium on Wednesday, losing 7-6 in the 10th inning.
First, Victor Gonzalez drove a 94 mph sinker into the back of Gunnar Henderson’s shoulder with the first pitch of the top of the seventh.
Henderson and the Orioles got some revenge later in the inning when they scored on a Ryan Mountcastle double to give the Orioles a four-run lead, which was further extended when Giancarlo Stanton hit a three-run homer in the bottom of the inning to give the Orioles a one-run lead.
Then Caleb Ferguson struck out Colton Cowser with a 94 mph four-seam fastball with one out in the eighth inning.
Cowser slammed the bat on the ground but then trot to first base and said after the game that Ferguson had not hit him intentionally with the score at one, but was simply upset that he had not been able to swing the bat.
This came after the Yankees said Tuesday they didn’t believe Judge and Torres, who was hit in the left hand and missed Wednesday’s game, were targeted.
Asked if he thought Gonzalez was pitching to Henderson, Baltimore manager Brandon Hyde said, “I have no idea.”
Not surprisingly, Gonzalez said through a translator that he was just trying to pitch an upturned, inward pitch.
Cedric Mullins said of the suggestion, “Whether it’s intentional or not is pure speculation.”
“A lot of things happen throughout the season,” Mullins said. “Personally, [they were on purpose]”The only thing that matters is the intensity of the games and the ranking.”
Aaron Boone said no warning was issued.
The day before, Judge acknowledged he was “pissed” that Baltimore’s pitchers continued to pitch high and tight after he was hit.
Hyde said ahead of Wednesday’s game that the Yankees were upset with the number of high and inside pitches their pitchers threw on Tuesday.
“I think getting hit is the worst part of the game unfortunately and I don’t think anybody wants to see anybody get hit,” Hyde said. “I don’t want to see any of our guys get hit and I don’t want to see any of our guys get hit.”
He didn’t get his wish.
“Maybe if something like this happened in New York it would be a bit of a bigger deal,” Hyde said, “but we don’t want that to happen.”
The two teams finish off a three-game series in the Bronx on Thursday, and with manager Alex Verdugo saying Tuesday he expects there to be more “tension” in post-Opening Day games, there’s sure to be an even brighter spotlight on the top two teams in the AL East — and maybe the entire AL — on Thursday.
