Red Sox, Yankees benches clear as Willson Contreras tries to bring ‘saltiness’ to rivalry
· Yahoo Sports
BOSTON — For the first time in years, the Red Sox and Yankees had a benches-clearing incident Friday at Fenway. And you guessed it, Willson Contreras was right in the middle of the action.
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With Boston leading 4-0 in the fifth inning behind a dominant Payton Tolle, Contreras took a 3-2 pitch high and inside for ball four against right-hander Will Warren. As he trotted down to first, Contreras flipped his bat and turned in Warren’s direction while appearing to send some choice words toward the pitcher. When he got to first base, Contreras was still jawing until umpire Clint Vondrak began to hold him back. First baseman Paul Goldschmidt — Contreras’ former Cardinals teammate — turned in Contreras’ direction as both dugouts emptied.
Contreras, who two innings earlier had hit a 111.9 mph, 418-foot homer off Warren that easily cleared the Green Monster, seemed to take exception that three of the four balls from Warren in his fifth-inning plate appearance were high and inside.
“Part of the game. That’s it,” Contreras said. “Many people can look at it in different ways. I look at it one way. It’s just part of the game.”
Warren, speaking to reporters in the Yankees clubhouse, said he “was trying to make a pitch up and in” and said Contreras — who is known for standing closer to the plate than most hitters — was “playing games in the box.” Yankees manager Aaron Boone called Contreras’ actions “ridiculous.”
“That’s what he does a lot,” Boone said. “I mean, his arms hang over the plate, so I don’t know where we’re supposed to go. I think there’s probably a method to what he’s doing -- probably wants that -- but obviously, nothing’s going on. We probably needed to do a better job of getting the ball in on him tonight. So the warnings and the barking seemed kind of ridiculous.”
After the benches emptied, the Sox and Yankees stayed on their sides of the field and the clubs never came together. The bullpens slowly emptied from right field. No punches were thrown or shoves were exchanged. The umpiring crew issued a warning to both teams as Contreras kept jawing toward the Yankees dugout — in a colorful manner.
“Stuff happens sometimes,” said Red Sox interim manager Chad Tracy. “We were all out there and there was nothing happening. I didn’t see it all, but I think the two of them chirped at each other a little bit on the way down the line. Everybody went out there and stood out there and had a picnic and came back in. Nothing going on, not a huge deal.”
Contreras, who also had an RBI single in the first inning off Warren, made headlines in January when he took a shot at the Yankees shortly after the Red Sox acquired him in a trade. At that point, he vowed to “play with fire” whenever the rivals squared off and said the Yankees were “probably going to start hating” him when the teams played each other. On Friday, he seemed to attempt to make good on his word.
“It’s a really good rivalry,” Contreras said. “I played with the Cubs, I played with the Cardinals and that’s a good rivalry. This one is really good. I think it’s good for baseball. Makes baseball fun. Everything you guys saw tonight is part of the game.
“So many people are trying to push to take that away from the game. I think we need a little bit more of that saltiness and rivalry. I’ll say that.”
Friday wasn’t the first time Contreras was involved in a fiery interaction this season. In April, after being hit by the Brewers for the 24th time in his career, Contreras vowed to “take one of them out” if it happened again. Less than a month later in Detroit, he stoked a benches-clearing situation when starter Framber Valdez allegedly threw at Trevor Story on purpose.
“He’s a fiery player. We all know that by now,” said Tracy. “He plays with a lot of emotion and you saw it tonight. I don’t think he’s doing anything. I just think he’s a fiery player and he came up big for us tonight.”
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