Boston Tensions Rise Between Astros and Red Sox

BOSTON – Hector Neris, a reliever for the Houston Astros, found himself in a heated exchange with Kyle Hudson, the third base coach for the Red Sox, which sparked a bit of chaos on Saturday after Neris—well, let’s just say, made an unusual move that didn’t sit well with everyone. He purposely balked a runner to third, which got the teams riled up.

In the seventh inning of Houston’s 7-3 defeat, Neris gave up a crucial two-out RBI double to Trevor Story. After that, he moved the runner to third before Carlos Narvaez’s groundout ended the inning.

As Neris exited the mound, he was seen reacting to Hudson, who was vocal in the Red Sox dugout, leading to both teams, including the bullpens, charging onto the field in an attempt to restore order.

When asked if he suspected the Red Sox were stealing signs, Neris’s answer was a bit evasive: “Maybe. Maybe yes, maybe no,” he said, leaving people guessing. It seemed like he didn’t want to dig too deeply into that part of the game.

The 36-year-old right-hander elaborated, saying, “But I still wanted to focus. In that moment, I just want to do what I think is right, and that’s why I made that move.” Neris sidestepped questions about his exact words to Hudson but added, with a smirk, that “nothing serious happened,” suggesting that it was just a part of the game.

Astros manager Joe Espada spoke to reporters following Neris’s comments and admitted he didn’t quite have a grip on what sparked the incident.

“I’m actually going to ask Neris,” Espada remarked. “Honestly, I really don’t know what words were exchanged.” Meanwhile, Red Sox manager Alex Cora weighed in on the bench-clearing development, indicating that stealing signs wasn’t something to overlook but without much elaboration.

It’s notable that Major League pitching usually relies on electronic communications through Pitchcom. Still, a runner on second base can pick up on the pitch by watching the pitcher’s grip, and communicate that to the batter, so, well, it goes both ways.

The Astros did face disciplinary action from Major League Baseball in the past for sign-stealing during their 2017 World Series run and again in 2018. Cora, who was Houston’s bench coach back in 2017, experienced his own journey through a sign-stealing scandal. He parted ways with Boston in early 2020 after the MLB imposed a one-season ban, only to return as the Red Sox manager in November 2020. Quite the twist of fate, isn’t it?