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

In this story:
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.
More MLB on Sports Illustrated

Blake Silverman is a writer at Sports Illustrated, primarily covering the NBA and WNBA. Before joining SI in November 2024 as a breaking/trending news writer, he covered the WNBA, NBA, G League and college basketball for numerous sites, including Winsidr, SB Nation and A10Talk. He’s an alum of both Michigan State and St. Bonaventure University, receiving a master’s degree from the Bonnies’ sports journalism program. Outside of work, he’s a husband, father, yogi and fairly mediocre tennis player who’s open to any tips on how to play defense in EA Sports College Football.