NEW YORK (AP) 鈥 Two New York Yankees fans who were ejected from Game 4 of the World Series for interfering with Los Angeles Dodgers right fielder Mookie Betts have been banned from Game 5 on Wednesday night.
Betts leaped at the retaining wall in foul territory and caught Gleyber Torres鈥 pop fly in the first inning Tuesday night, but a fan in the first row with a gray Yankees road jersey with both hands and pulled the ball out. Another fan grabbed Betts鈥 bare hand.
鈥淣ot good. There鈥檚 no place for that. It鈥檚 as simple as that,鈥 New York manager Aaron Boone said Wednesday. 鈥淐ome here, cheer, root for your team, whatever. No place for that. Should never have hands on anyone.鈥
The Yankees called the behavior 鈥渆gregious and unacceptable.鈥 The team said the fans involved are season-ticket holders, and the club gave their Game 5 tickets to Calvin Young, a pediatric cancer patient who lives in New Jersey, and his family.
Young, 15, was unable to attend a kids-only news conference at the ballpark in September to mark Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. The World Series appearance was his first postseason game at Yankee Stadium, according to the team.
鈥淵ankee Stadium is known for its energy and intensity, however the exuberance of supporting one鈥檚 team can never cross the line into intentionally putting players at physical risk," the team said Wednesday in a statement. "The Yankees and Major League Baseball maintain a zero-tolerance policy toward the type of behavior displayed last night. These fans will not be permitted to attend tonight鈥檚 game in any capacity.鈥
The Major League Baseball Players Association also expressed concern about player safety and security.
鈥淎s with every incident at the ballpark that affects players, we have been in regular contact with league security officials since last night鈥檚 incident and will be closely tracking both the response to that incident and the protective measures taken going forward, beginning tonight,鈥 the union said in a statement.
Los Angeles left fielder Teoscar Hern谩ndez said he didn鈥檛 think there was anything to worry about Wednesday night.
鈥淚鈥檝e played here for six years against the Yankees, and I never see anything go wrong with the opposite team," he said.
鈥淔ans know they cannot do that, what that fan did last night," Hern谩ndez added. 鈥淚t happens, but unfortunately for him, he鈥檚 going to be thinking about that play last night for a long time. ... I鈥檝e never seen anything like it, but now that I see pictures and videos and all that stuff, it鈥檚 a little crazy.鈥
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said he doesn't think his players worry about their safety at Yankee Stadium, and he believes banning the fans involved was an appropriate measure.
鈥淚f there鈥檚 one player that I don鈥檛 think is worried (it) would be Mookie, given that he played a lot of games in this ballpark (with rival Boston). It was just an unfortunate circumstance. I鈥檓 glad it was dealt with the right way, and we can just move on to tonight,鈥 Roberts said. 鈥淎s I understand it, they got booted. We didn鈥檛 need them to be here, so they refunded their tickets. So that鈥檚 perfect, right?鈥
When the play occurred, the Dodgers had an early two-run lead on .
鈥淚 saw it. It was maybe one of the more extreme 鈥 kind of trying to rip a ball out. But at the same time, that鈥檚 kind of New York. I feel like that鈥檚 what you expect out here. You expect some unique things,鈥 Yankees left fielder Alex Verdugo said Wednesday.
鈥淎t the end of the day, I didn鈥檛 feel it was too serious. I think Mookie kind of shook it off, too. That鈥檚 just kind of the passion, I guess, New Yorkers have.鈥
Betts reacted angrily in the moment, but he quickly calmed down when Torres was immediately called out by umpires on fan interference.
鈥淲hen it comes to the person in play, it doesn鈥檛 matter,鈥 Betts said after the Yankees extended the series with an . 鈥淲e lost. It鈥檚 irrelevant. I鈥檓 fine. He鈥檚 fine."
Three years ago, Verdugo was playing the outfield for the Red Sox when he was struck in the back by a ball thrown from the left-field seats at Yankee Stadium. He was not hurt.
Boston manager Alex Cora briefly pulled his team off the field that night, and the fan who threw the ball was
The following season, fans in the notoriously rowdy right-field bleachers at Yankee Stadium after New York rallied for a walk-off win.
Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton and other Yankees players rushed toward the outfield fence, trying to calm the crowd.
Moments earlier, Guardians outfielder Myles Straw had climbed the chain-link fence in left to confront face-to-face at least one fan, while another fan nearby made a derogatory gesture.
Cleveland players were angry because they said a fan was celebrating an injury to Guardians left fielder Steven Kwan, who had just run hard into the wall chasing a tying double.
Straw called Yankees fans the 鈥渨orst fan base on the planet鈥 and was greeted the next day with in the Bronx. The Yankees said that day they increased security in the stands.
Torres has had two at-bats impacted by fan interference in this World Series. With two outs in the ninth inning of Game 1 at Dodger Stadium, he hit a fly ball to left field, and a fan reached over the top of the fence and caught the ball. Torres was awarded a double.
Torres hit a three-run homer to right field in the eighth inning Tuesday night.
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A previous version of this story corrected that Torres鈥 homer did not provide the final runs of the night for the Yankees.
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