After the Yankees took issue with Aaron Judge and Gleyber Torres being hit by Baltimore pitchers on Tuesday, the Bombers bullpen turned the tables, whether they intended to or not, in a 7-6, 10-inning loss to the Orioles at the stadium on Wednesday.
First, Victor Gonzalez hit a 94 mph fastball off the back of Gunner Henderson's shoulder on the first pitch of the seventh.
Henderson and the Orioles got revenge when he scored on Ryan Mountcastle's double in the bottom of the inning to give the Orioles a four-run lead, which grew even larger when Giancarlo Stanton hit a three-run shot in the bottom of the inning to put the Orioles ahead by just one run.
And then Caleb Ferguson hit a 94 mph four-seam fastball to Colton Cowser with one out in the eighth.
Cowher slammed his bat down hard, but then ran toward first base and later said he was sure Ferguson had not hit him intentionally on a one-run play and was merely upset that he didn't get a chance to swing the bat.
The incident came after the Yankees said on Tuesday they did not believe the shots targeted Judge and Torres, who missed Wednesday’s game because of a left hand injury.
Asked if he thought Gonzalez was throwing the ball at Henderson, Baltimore manager Brandon Hyde said, “I have no idea.”
It’s no surprise that Gonzalez said through an interpreter that he was simply trying to execute a pitch up and inside.
Cedric Mullins said of the pitches that it was “complete speculation as to whether it was purposeful or not.”
“There are a lot of things that happen throughout the season,” Mullins said. “I personally don't think that [they were on purpose]It's just the intensity of the games and our position in the standings.”
And Aaron Boone said no warning was issued.
The day before, Judge had admitted after being hit by the ball that he was “annoyed” that Baltimore's pitchers were consistently throwing the ball high and hard.
Before Wednesday's game, Hyde said the Yankees were troubled by several up-and-in pitches thrown by his staff on Tuesday.
“I think unfortunately getting hit is a horrible part of the game, and I don't think anybody wants to see anybody get hit,” Hyde said. “I don't want to see their players get hit. I don't want to see our players get hit.”
His wish was not fulfilled.
“When something like this happens — because it probably will in New York — it's a little bit of a bigger issue,” Hyde said. “But we don't want that to happen.”
The two teams will wrap up a three-game series in the Bronx on Thursday, and while Alex Verdugo said on Tuesday he expected the games to get more “loud” after the opener, there will no doubt be even more focus on the two top teams in the AL East and perhaps the entire American League on Thursday.