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The Yankees and Blue Jays have had some tense moments, and tempers started flaring between the two sides Friday night.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the situation involved Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who’s been a thorn in the Yankees’ side for a while now.
With two outs in the top of the ninth of an eventual 6-1 Toronto win at Yankee Stadium, Yankees reliever Greg Weissert hit Guerrero with a pitch near the elbow. Guerrero, who hit a two-run home run off starter Domingo German in the first inning, took his time going to first base, slowing walking down the line.
Yankees first baseman Anthony Rizzo didn’t appreciate that and let Guerrero know.
“We have a young pitcher on the mound, obviously not trying to hit Vlad there,” Rizzo said. “He gets hit, obviously want to make sure he’s all right. He seemed to be good and just kept staring at Greg. Kept staring at him. I just took exception to that. He’s not trying to hit him there. We’re not trying to hit him. Just playing baseball. I’ve been hit many times in this game.”
Players from both dugouts began walking onto the field, and both bullpens looked ready to run in from the outfield.
The umpires, though, managed to restore order and sent everyone back to their respective dugouts as play resumed.
Weissert, who walked the next batter before eventually getting out of the inning, said he was simply struggling with his command.
“I was trying to make a pitch,” Weissert said. “I kind of turned around, didn’t really see what he was doing. Just saw him kind of standing there. I don’t really know what he was thinking, but I obviously wasn’t trying to hit him. You guys watched the game, I didn’t have my best stuff tonight. I was losing command of the strike zone.”
Weissert appreciated Rizzo’s support.
“That’s the kind of teammate that he is and I think that speaks to the kind of guys we have in this locker room,” Weissert said. “Everybody’s got each other’s back, and I’m thankful for that.”
Whether there’s any carryover into the series’ next two games remains to be seen, but tensions are typically high anyway between the AL East rivals.
“They play their game, we play our game,” Rizzo said. “They’re a good team, we’re a good team. I think just naturally the intensity’s always high. “
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