Benches Clear At Camden Yards Between The Yankees And O's After Heston Kjerstad Gets Drilled In The Head, Leading To O's Manager Brandon Hyde Losing His Mind
Mitchell Layton. Getty Images.Crazy scene at Camden Yards tonight as tension building for some time finally boiled over and led to a benches clearing altercation in the 9th inning between the Yankees and Orioles.
The context of it all? The Yankees don't like when the Orioles pitch inside to guys like Aaron Judge. It's happened this year a few times. The Orioles don't like when the Yankees hit them. That's also happened quite a bit in 2024. Both sides have been on fairly big skids of late and were playing with some desperation as we enter the final series of the first half. In the 9th inning Clay Holmes lost a 96 mph fastball up and in which unfortunately hit Heston Kjerstad in the head. That led to fireworks on the field with both benches clearing as well as the bullpens. Here's both broadcasts' live feed.
First of all I hope Heston is alright. That was fucking scary in real time. He was able to stand and walk off the field, but you never know after the fact. Side of the head too makes you wince every time they show the replay. What a nightmare for a hitter. Just cause he walked off doesn't mean shit, gotta hope for good news tomorrow.
Now to the aftermath..,
If you have a brain you realize there's no shot in hell Clay Holmes hit Kjerstad intentionally. It's raining hard in the 9th inning of a save situation of a game the Yankees desperately need to win. I'm pretty sure the Yankees haven't won the first game of a series in over a month. The last thing Clay Holmes is trying to do is put a guy on base there and send a message. Factor in how he's been struggling of late as well. You never want to see that happen, but you gotta understand it's not on purpose. I don't think there's anyone on the Orioles, Hyde included, who thought it was, but in the moment people get angry when that shit happens. Both of these teams are tired of getting hit by each other. They both throw up and in and have had multiple instances this year alone of tension. It was bound to pour over.
Seems like O's manager Brandon Hyde had an issue with someone in the Yankees dugout yelling at him. That apparently was sparked because Hyde kept glaring at Holmes who was trying to apologize and make sure they knew it was a complete accident.
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Hyde claims there was no interaction with Holmes, but clearly there was. Catcher Austin Wells reacts in a way like "are you kidding" with whatever was said.
Is it possible Hyde picked that moment as a way to get something out of his team who had been slumped of late? For sure, but that doesn't mean the Yankees have to take that.
At the end of the day if you're an Orioles fan you think the Yankees downplayed Heston being hit in the head. That's absolutely not what happened in anyway, but that's their view of it. If you somehow believe that pitch was intentional then I can't take you seriously. If you're a Yankees fan you think Hyde is a clown for point his finger at the dugout and engaging with a player (Austin Wells). The Yankees lead the league in hitting opponents while the Os recently have hit Seager, Judge and Bellinger in on the hand area. Tensions build in a division rivalry like this and spill over into benches clearing brawls. Eventually we were going to hit a breaking point. What happens next is anyone's guess. If Judge or Soto get plunked tomorrow up and in then hold onto your butts. There's clearly bad blood, which isn't a bad thing for the sport. You never want it happening because a guy got hit in the head, but here we are. I don't think we've come close to seeing the last of any of this.
P.S. I'll alway laugh when the bullpens run in from the outfield. One time they gotta just fight each other out there and cause mayhem. Imagine the initial scrum dies down to nothing and then everyone looks at a full-out brawl happening in the outfield. Need it.
P.P.S. Nothing will ever beat this fight. They just don't brawl like they used to.