Brandon Hyde didn’t like what he heard from the Yankees dugout and it set him off after watching his player get hit the helmet with a Clay Holmes sinker.
The Orioles manager, the only person ejected after the Orioles and Yankees benches cleared, began angrily shouting at the Bombers’ bench following outfielder Heston Kjerstad being struck with a 96.8 mph sinker with one out in the ninth inning at Camden Yards on Friday night.
“Just walking back and I hear stuff from [their] dugout, so I reacted the way I did,” Hyde said. “Saw they were pointing at me. … [I was] reacting to their coaches.”
Hyde appeared to spark the benches clearing as it appeared he said something from home plate to Holmes, who responded angrily.
As the dugouts emptied with Kjerstad heading to first, Hyde furiously charged the Yankees dugout, possibly at assistant hitting coach Casey Dykes, who was the first person on the field out of the Yankees side.
“It’s an emotional time at that time,” Hyde said. “My guy just got hit right in the ear. I’m upset and then I see their dugout they’re waving at me and yelling at me. I didn’t appreciate it at that time.”
Yankees catcher Austin Wells had to restrain Hyde an no punches were throw during the incident.
“I saw Hyde mouthing some stuff,” said Holmes, who was unsure what Hyde actually said. “I think some people didn’t like that and things got heated.”
The incident was a boiling over of tension stemming from the two AL rivals’ series in The Bronx in June that left the Yankees miffed as the number of high and tight pitches from the Orioles.
The Yankees went on to win the critical game 4-1 and move withing a game of the Orioles in the AL East.
“Two good teams going at it,” said Yankees starter Gerrit Cole, who ended up right in the middle of the action. “Both clubs pitch inside. Dude, it’s so wet out there tonight. Clay threw the next pitch, first pitch to Ryan [O’Hearn], Ryan almost loses his bat out of his hands and wipes his hands on his pants to grip the bat. Anybody out there knows it was tough to grip the baseball tonight. With that said, the guy got hit in the head, so it’s understandable that’s Brandon’s pissed. He’s defending his players.”