It was a typical Saturday afternoon for baseball between the Yankees and Guardians through eight innings. But in the final frame, the tone of the game went from ordinary to ugly.
The Guardians held a 4–3 advantage entering the bottom of the ninth inning before Yankees shortstop Isiah Kiner-Falefa tied the game at four on a two-out RBI double off of Cleveland closer Emmanuel Clase.
After the Yankees’ tying run, while Cleveland’s trainers entered the field to check on left fielder Steven Kwan, Guardians center fielder Myles Straw got into an argument with a Yankees fan and even climbed the fence to address his heckler.
Cleveland went on to lose, 5-4, on a Gleyber Torres walk-off single, and New York’s fans began throwing garbage on the field immediately after the game ended, nearly hitting right fielder Oscar Mercado.
Straw did not hold back on his disgust in the aftermath, calling Yankees fans “classless” and the “worst fan base on the planet.” Mercado said after the game that New York’s fans need to be held “accountable” for their actions.
“At the end of the day, we’re human beings as well,” Mercado said. “I am not going to sit there and allow them to just throw stuff at me and take it like it’s nothing.
“That’s ridiculous. … That should not happen. Say whatever you want… do whatever you want… there should be rules set up for that.”
Last July, a Red Sox-Yankees game was halted due to a fan throwing a ball back onto the field that hit Boston outfielder Alex Verdugo. Fans also threw baseballs onto the field in the middle of a lopsided defeat against the Rays almost exactly one year ago.
