Red Sox, Astros don’t provide much explanation on what led to benches-clearing moment
“It’s part of the game. Something funny.”
An unusual moment in the seventh inning of the Red Sox’ 7-3 win over the Astros on Saturday led to an exchange between Houston pitcher Hector Neris and Boston third base coach Kyle Hudson that caused the benches to clear.
After Trevor Story hit an RBI double in the inning, Neris surrendered an intentional balk to send the Red Sox shortstop to third base with Carlos Narváez at the plate with two outs in the inning. As Neris seemed to think that Story was relaying signs, he said something to Hudson when he ran past him after getting Narvaez to ground out to end the inning.
The heated exchange of words lasted for a few moments, with Hudson turning around to say something back to Neris. Neris was held back by one of the umpires and a couple of teammates, while Red Sox manager Alex Cora yelled something toward the Astros pitcher.
Neris played coy, though, when asked what he said that led to the heated moment in Saturday’s game.
“Nothing,” he said when asked what he said to Hudson. “It’s part of the game. Something funny.”
Neris also tiptoed around the question on whether he thought the Red Sox were tipping his pitches, but admitted to intentionally balking Story.
“Maybe yes, maybe no,” Neris replied. “But just wanted to concentrate. In this situation, I don’t think about it. I want to do what I’m feeling right in the moment.
“Just wanted to feel better to concentrate on the guy at home plate. Just wanted to move on and keep on the guy on home plate, not worrying about him.”
Neris wasn’t the only person who either didn’t want to speak much about the moment or didn’t provide background on what happened. Story shrugged when he was asked what led to the benches-clearing moment.
“I’m not sure,” Story said. “You’ll have to ask those guys. But I was walking back to the dugout and I just saw everyone kind of come out at that point. So you’ll have to ask them.
“If he wanted to balk me over, that’s fine. One step closer to home.”
Astros manager Joe Espada, meanwhile, told reporters, “What do you think?” when he was asked about Neris’s seventh-inning balk. As for Cora, he didn’t want to talk much about the moment, either.
“You’ve gotta ask Neris,” Cora said.
Of course, the recent sign-stealing scandals involving both teams and Cora added another layer to Saturday’s drama. However, it doesn’t appear there was any illegal sign stealing on Saturday, with how quickly both teams moved on from the incident.
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