BOSTON – Willson Contreras likes the idea of adding spice to the historic rivalry between the Yankees and the Red Sox, saying that anything that gets people talking “makes baseball fun.”
If that’s the mission, he’s doing his part.
Contreras sparked a benches-clearing incident in the fifth inning of Friday’s 6-1 Boston victory at Fenway Park, taking exception to inside pitches from right-hander Will Warren, against whom he earlier homered and drove in a couple of runs.
“It’s part of the game. That’s it,” Contreras said. “Many people can look at it in different ways. I look at it one way. It’s just part of the game.”
Having collected a run-scoring single and his 17th homer of the season in his first two at-bats, Contreras inched toward home plate during his third plate appearance, almost daring Warren to attempt pitching inside.
When a couple of fastballs came in high and tight, Contreras reacted. His main issue seemed to be with the second pitch of his plate appearance, a 92.4 mph fastball. Contreras walked on the sixth pitch, a 95.9 mph fastball that also buzzed inside.
As he trotted to first base, Contreras jawed toward Warren, who returned a few words in response.
“I’m trying to make a pitch up and in,” Warren said. “I’m making a pitch, being competitive. He said something, so I said something back. … I’m trying to get in the zone, and he’s playing games in the box.”
When Contreras reached first, the back-and-forth continued, prompting first base umpire Clint Vondrak and first baseman Paul Goldschmidt to intercede.
Yankees manager Aaron Boone described the situation as “ridiculous.”
“I think that’s what he does a lot,” Boone said. “His arms hang over the plate, so I don’t know where we were supposed to go. I think there’s probably a method to what he’s doing. He probably wants that. Obviously, nothing’s going on. We probably needed to do a better job of getting the ball in on him tonight.”
There did not appear to be any physical altercations, and play quickly resumed. Boston interim manager Chad Tracy referred to the incident as “a picnic.”
“Stuff happens sometimes,” Tracy said. “We were all out there, and there was nothing happening. I didn't see all of it, but we just chirped at each other a little bit. Everybody went out there and stood around, had a picnic, and then came back in.”
When the Red Sox acquired Contreras in December, he said in a January introductory Zoom call that he was “not coming to Boston just to like the Yankees.”
“That’s not going to happen,” he said then. “They’re probably going to start hating me when we play against each other. I’m going to play with fire. I’m going to play with emotion, and show them we can win.”
It’s clear that, based on Friday’s sequence of events, the Yankees won’t be listing Contreras among their favorite opponents anytime soon. Tracy doesn’t seem surprised by that development.
“He's a fiery player. We all know that by now,” Tracy said. “He plays with a lot of emotion. He came up big for us tonight.”
Said Contreras: “Tonight was part of the game. Turn the page. Tomorrow’s another game, and I’m glad that we won tonight.”