Toronto Canada /
Tensions almost boiled over between the Boston Red Sox y los Toronto Blue Jays during the last game of the series at Rogers Center on Wednesday, June 29 at the Major League Baseball (MLB) when the benches were emptied in the bottom of the third inning after a ball hit the Mexican Alejandro Kirk.
Starting pitcher Nick Pivetta hit Kirk with a fastball, a pitch that didn’t seem terribly controversial at the time, but boos rained down from the crowd as the Toronto crowd defended the local favorite and All-Star Game voting leader at wide receiver. .
However, it quickly became clear that things were beginning to escalate.
The Blue Jays took issue with how high the pitch hit Kirk, who is fast becoming one of the best hitters in the major leagues. He has been aggressively challenged by pitchers looking to figure him out, so Toronto players didn’t care that Pivetta put his star in jeopardy.
“He’s been hit there a couple of times recently,” Jays starter Alek Manoah said. “In the heat of the moment, the team doesn’t want to see your own player get hit. I do not want to say that [Pivetta] I may have done it on purpose or anything like that, but it’s a really sensitive area up there. As a team, we’ve got our backs for Kirky all day and we’re playing extremely competitive baseball right now.”
Pivetta acknowledged as much after the Red Sox’ tense 6-5 win in 10 innings, noting that Kirk is a great hitter who hurts at the plate, so he was trying to pitch inside. This earned Pivetta the rare honor of being a Canadian booed from the mound in Toronto.
The Blue Jays’ bullpen emptied out led by newly hired fellow Mexican reliever Sergio Romo, and the Red Sox corral burst in soon after. Some players had to be held back, including Rafael Devers on the Boston side, but the altercation was more of a conversation than a fight.
