Orioles were bothered by ‘strange’ Juan Soto play before Aaron Judge injury

Two innings before Aaron Judge’s left hand was hit by a pitch in the bottom of the third Tuesday night, the Orioles were bothered by a “strange play” involving Juan Soto that led to their third baseman leaving the Yankees’ 4-2 win with an injury.

Soto, who was the lead runner on second, ran toward third when Giancarlo Stanton hit a slow chopper toward Baltimore’s Jordan Westburg.

With both the ball and Westburg coming toward him, Soto slowed down and made contact with Westburg, resulting in an inning-ending interference call against Soto.

Westburg left the game in the bottom of the second inning with a bruised left hip and was replaced by Ramon Urias. He’s considered day-to-day.

“That’s a strange play,” Orioles manager Brandon Hyde told reporters after the game. “You don’t see that a ton. A routine ground ball, just ran into him on it. I don’t know.”

Orioles shortstop Gunnar Henderson said he “didn’t really understand” what happened on the play.

“He was having to come make the play in, but just kind of a freak thing,” Henderson said, per the Baltimore Sun.

Tuesday marked the second time in three weeks Soto was called for interfering with a fielder.

On May 29 in Anaheim, Soto was trying to get back to second base on an infield popup by Stanton with the bases loaded and no outs in the first inning, but he bumped into shortstop Zach Neto as he was trying to make the catch and the ball fell.

Yankees manager Aaron Boone was ejected while arguing with umpires after that call.

The 25-year-old Westburg, who also plays second base, has been one of the Orioles’ best players this season, his second in the big leagues.

The 2020 first-round pick is hitting .278 with an .836 OPS, 11 home runs and 42 RBIs.