BALTIMORE-What happened? The Orioles were down 4-1 in the bottom of the ninth, on their way to a fourth straight loss when New York Yankees closer Clay Holmes hit Heston Kjerstad on the helmet with a pitch.
During last month’s three-game series at Yankee Stadium, there were accusations from the Yankees that the Orioles were throwing at them. Slugger Aaron Judge, who homered and walked four times in Friday night’s game, was hit by Andrew Suárez and suffered a wrist injury. Oriole shortstop Gunnar Henderson was hit by a pitch the next day.
After Kjerstad, who dropped to the ground, came to his feet and was examined by head athletic trainer Brian Ebel, manager Brandon Hyde said he heard the New York dugout yelling at him. At the time, he had Kjerstad’s helmet in his hand. Hyde tossed the helmet and headed toward the Yankees’ dugout. The benches and bullpens emptied, but no punches were thrown.
“I’m just walking back and I hear stuff from their dugout, so just reacted the way I did,” Hyde said. “I saw they were pointing at me and the whole thing, so just reacted the way I did.”
Kjerstad was in the Orioles’ clubhouse after the game but was in concussion protocol.
“He’s getting tested right now,” Hyde said. “He’s going through some tests. Hoping he’s OK.”
How intense was the atmosphere? Hyde insisted he wasn’t trying to spark the Orioles.
“We were getting beat and didn’t get much going offensively, and Gerrit Cole threw the ball great,” Hyde said. “The bullpen did, also. We just had a tough time scoring runs.
“We’ve been playing really good baseball this first half and just kind of want to see us end the half playing well. We’ve run into a little bit of a skid right now. We’re kind of running through some tough times offensively, and hopefully we can take some better at-bats tomorrow.”
Hyde didn’t specify who was yelling at him.
“I’m reacting to their coaches. I just reacted the way I did,” he said.
“It’s an emotional time at that time. My guy just got hit right in the ear. I’m upset and then I see their dugout and they’re waving at me and yelling at me, so I just didn’t appreciate it at the time.”
What did the Orioles think of the skirmish? Austin Hays pinch-ran for Kjerstad.
“It’s really scary any time you see somebody get hit in the head, especially with a heater like that,” he said. “Any time you have a player get hit in the head, the emotions run a little bit high, and I think that’s all you saw there, was just some emotion coming out.
“I don’t think Clay was trying to hit Heston in the head right there. I think he was probably just trying to go in, front door sinker, and he missed up.
“It’s really unfortunate that that ball hit Heston so solid. I really hope he’s OK. We’ll be saying some prayers for him tonight.”
Hays has seen serious injuries in the game and was worried he’d seen another one.
“I mean, any time you see players get hit on the hands, in the head, it’s dangerous, and you know guys can miss games for that, so the emotions are always higher when you see a guy get hit up top,” he said. “So, yeah, I just think that’s what you saw there.”
Hays appreciated Hyde defending his team.
“That’s part of the game,” he said. “You never want somebody to get hit. You’ve got to look out for your team and you’ve got to look out for your players, and I think that’s what you were seeing there. That’s just part of the game.
“Heston, he got hit, so I was trying to get my legs loose knowing I’m the outfielder, I’m probably going to have to run for him right there. I was kind of going out on the field and guys were running out there.
“Next thing I know, we’re kind of in the middle of it. Like I said, I think just emotions are running high and guys are trying to stand up for their players, and those are the kind of things that happen. You just keep playing the game.”
Ryan O’Hearn was among those who ran onto the field.
“Regardless of any history or whatever this season, guy gets hit in the head like that, our dugout’s going to be on kind of high alert there,” he said. “I thought it had kind of calmed down, and then for whatever reason, things went crazy.
“But we’ve got a tight-knit group and we support each other, and we’re going to go to battle for each other and have our guys’ backs. Some pushing and shoving. No punches. Nothing like that. It is what it is.”
He also appreciated Hyde’s response. “We all love each other and are going to stick up for each other, and that starts with Hyder,” O’Hearn said.
The Orioles are trying to break out of their funk before the All-Star break, having lost four straight and scoring just one run in their past three games.
“I would prefer to just play, obviously. It’s a tough stretch for us.,” O’Hearn said. “We’re having a hard time scoring runs, and that’s our main focus, so I would hope that we show up trying to win a baseball game and extracurriculars don’t happen.”
How did Povich do? Cade Povich allowed three runs on five hits in 5 1/3 innings, walking five and striking out six.
He allowed Judge’s 33rd home run, which leads the major leagues, in the third and an RBI double by Jose Trevino and run-scoring single by Jahmai Jones in the second.
“I thought Cade threw the ball great,” Hyde said. “For only having a handful of starts under his belt, to be able to kind of navigate through the lineup the way we he did — you know, he made that bad pitch to Judge there 0-2, unfortunately. But besides that, I thought he threw the ball really well.”
Povich said he wasn’t dissatisfied.
“I had a game plan coming into this, and I think that all but maybe one pitch was executed pretty much how I wanted it to,” he said.
The Orioles’ only run came on Ramón Urias’ RBI triple that scored Kjerstad in the second.
Yankee starter Gerrit Cole was impressive, allowing a run on five hits in six innings and striking out seven.
What’s the word? “I mean, we’re fighting for the first-place spot in the division and we’ve always played games like that. I expect it to be Yankees-Orioles baseball the way it’s always been.”-Hays on the emotions of the 9th inning.
What does it mean? The Orioles and Yankees have two more games before the All-Star break, and hopefully there won’t be any more dustups.
What’s the stat of the day? 4. The Orioles have scored just four runs in the last four games.
What’s next? Grayson Rodriguez (11-3, 3.52) will face Luis Gil (9-5, 3.27) on Saturday at 4:05 p.m. Viewers outside the MASN viewing area can see the game on FS1.
Call for questions: Most weekdays, I’ll be answering at least one Orioles question. Please send yours to: [email protected]