The Yankees and Guardians game went from relatively uneventful to chaotic on Saturday afternoon, as New York topped Cleveland 5–4 on a walk-off.
The game began with a pitchers duel. Nestor Cortes Jr., who entered the game without having allowed a run this season, had another stellar day, going 6.1 innings pitch and allowing just two runs on one hit. Cleveland’s Cal Quantrill matched Cortes for most of the afternoon, going 6.1 innings himself, but he gave up three runs, topped off by a Josh Donaldson solo home run.
Up one in the eighth, the Yankees turned to Chad Green, but the righty reliever failed to hold the lead. With two outs, Austin Hedges crushed a two-run homer off Green to give the Guardians the 4–3 lead.
That was the score entering the bottom of the ninth, when things got hectic. First, Isiah Kiner-Falefa tied the game at four with a two-out RBI double off Guardians closer Emmanuel Clase.
Then, when Guardians trainers were checking in on left fielder Steven Kwan, center fielder Myles Straw seemed to get into it with the Yankees fans in left field to the point where Straw climbed the fence to speak with them.
Gleyber Torres was the very next batter, and he drilled a single to right field, scoring Kiner-Falefa from second to seal the victory.
But as soon as the game ended, fans in right field began throwing garbage on the field, prompting New York to halt its celebration and tell the fans to stop.
This is not the first time in recent memory Yankees fans have thrown things at opposing players. Last year, a Yankees-Red Sox game was delayed when a fan threw a ball back onto the field that hit Alex Verdugo.
And almost exactly a year ago fans threw objects on the field in the middle of the game, although then it was out of anger instead of excitement.
These two teams will complete the series on Sunday, so any continued animosity between the two sides has one more game to continue.
