NEW YORK — Trash talking is one thing at a baseball game. Throwing trash is quite another.
Fans in the right-field bleachers at Yankee Stadium showered Cleveland Guardians outfielders with bottles, cans and other debris moments after the New York Yankees secured a come-from-behind 6-5 victory on Saturday, ESPN reported.
Cleveland was one out away from victory when Isiah Kiner-Falefa and pinch-hitter Gleyber Torres had run-scoring hits to rally New York past the Guardians.
That was when things got ugly from rowdy fans.
Steven Kwan ran into the left-field wall trying to catch Kiner-Falefa’s game-tying double, CBS Sports reported. It appeared as if fans were taunting Kwan after the play as trainers tended to him.
Before play resumed, Cleveland right fielder Oscar Mercado pointed at the stands and center fielder Myles Straw began scaling the wall to confront some of the hecklers, according to the network.
“Brutal,” Straw told reporters after the game. “I’m not talking. I’ll let the fans talk for me. Classless. … Worst fan base on the planet.”
Torres followed by lining a single to right-center for the game-winning hit, ESPN reported. As Mercado and Straw chased the ball, several fans began throwing objects at them.
New York stars Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton and other New York players rushed toward the wall in right-center field in an effort to calm the crowd, according to The Associated Press.
“I don’t think people can throw stuff at our players on the field,” Cleveland manager Terry Francona told reporters. “That’s never going to be OK.”
“Obviously, there’s no place for throwing stuff on the field in that situation,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “I’ll get more clarity on it, but obviously, we certainly don’t want to put anyone in danger.”
The Yankees won for the fourth time in five games and got their second walk-off win, but they were not celebrating after the fans’ meltdown.
“I didn’t know what was going on, but that can’t happen,” Kiner-Falefa told reporters. “I love the atmosphere, I love the fans, I love everything about them, but we win with class.”
“They need to be held accountable and I think there should be rules set up for that because that’s ridiculous and that should not happen,” Mercado said. “Say whatever you want to say and do whatever you want to do, but at the end of the day there’s got to be consequences for behavior like that.”