Yankees Announcer Michael Kay Said What Fans Were Thinking As Benches Cleared in Baltimore

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Benches cleared during Wednesday night’s game between the New York Yankees and Baltimore Orioles after O’s outfielder Heston Kjerstad took exception with Yankees second baseman Pablo Reyes as he slid into second.
As Kjerstad stole second, Reyes jumped to bring down the throw down from catcher Austin Wells and Reyes came down awkwardly on Kjerstad's head. Words were exchanged and benches quickly cleared between both sides. The Orioles' bullpen sprinted in from center field and the Yankees' relievers followed slowly behind.
Heston Kjerstad and Pablo Reyes get into it and benches clear in Baltimore! pic.twitter.com/tJGwTMVczb
— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) May 1, 2025
The dust up amounted to a whole lot of nothing, with players quickly separating and play resuming shortly after.
Yankees broadcaster Michael Kay couldn't fathom why the bullpens cleared as well, as the incident settled before they could even get to second base from behind the center-field wall.
"I'm telling you, the run from the bullpen is one of the most ridiculous things," Kay said on the broadcast via Prime Video and Awful Announcing. "No one's thrown a punch. No one's said a curse word. But they all had to run from the 410-foot mark."
"I'm telling you, the run from the bullpen is one of the most ridiculous things. No one's thrown a punch. No one's said a curse word. But they all had to run from the 410-foot mark."
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) May 1, 2025
Michael Kay after the Yankees and Orioles had a brief bench-clearing incident. pic.twitter.com/SEAxV2a2ie
You can't help but wonder why the bullpens even bothered. But, hey, they did what they could do get there as soon as possible, I guess.
The Orioles (12-18) beat the Yankees (18-13) by a score of 5-4 to take the rubber match of the three-game series between the American League East rivals.
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Blake Silverman is a contributor to the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. Before joining SI in November 2024, he covered the WNBA, NBA, G League and college basketball for numerous sites, including Winsidr, SB Nation's Detroit Bad Boys and A10Talk. He graduated from Michigan State University before receiving a master's in sports journalism from St. Bonaventure University. Outside of work, he's probably binging the latest Netflix documentary, at a yoga studio or enjoying everything Detroit sports. A lifelong Michigander, he lives in suburban Detroit with his wife, young son and their personal petting zoo of two cats and a dog.
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