The end of a game between the New York Yankees and Cleveland Guardians turned ugly Saturday after flaps between Yankees fans and Guardians players escalated to trash throwing at Yankee Stadium.
The Guardians held a 4-3 advantage entering the bottom of the ninth inning before Yankees shortstop Isiah Kiner-Falefa tied the game with a run. Sports Illustrated reported that as 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. Straw climbed the fence to address the heckler.
Cleveland went on to lose, 5-4, on a walk-off single, and Yankees fans began throwing garbage on the field immediately after the game ended, nearly hitting right fielder Oscar Mercado, SI reported.
Straw was upset after the incidents, 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 bad behavior.
“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."
According to SI, a Red Sox-Yankees game was halted last July 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.
