Dodgers’ Mookie Betts shrugs off Yankee fans who attacked him

New York – There’s fan interference and there’s misdemeanor assault, and what happened to Dodgers star Mookie Betts in the right corner of Yankee Stadium in the first inning of Tuesday night’s 11-4 Game 4 World Series loss to New York may qualify as the last.

“I’ve never seen anything like it,” Betts said after the game, frustrated by the Dodgers’ inability to complete a four-game sweep of the Yankees, but glad to have avoided a serious injury while playing. “But there’s always a first time for the first time.”

Gleyber Torres led off the bottom of the first inning with a fly ball to right that drifted into foul territory. Betts, a six-time Gold Glove Award-winning outfielder, jumped the high padded wall in foul territory and managed to get caught between two Yankees fans, one wearing a gray road jersey and the other wearing a white striped jersey.

But when Betts tried to secure the ball, the fan wearing a road jersey was identified Athlete Brendan Côté as Austin Capobianco38, from Connecticut – Reached into Betts’ glove trying to clear the ball.

The other fan then grabbed Betts’ wrist and pulled so the outfielder couldn’t catch the ball, which came off Betts’ glove and landed on the dirt warning track. Right field umpire Mark Karlsson immediately called for fan intervention, and Torres was disqualified.

Capobianco and the other fan, whose identity was not revealed, were escorted from their seats by stadium security, exchanging high fives and at least one hug as fans applauded as they walked down the aisle.

“Yeah, that seemed ridiculous from my perspective,” Dodgers shortstop Tommy Edman said. “The guy was trying to take his glove off and pull his wrist. … It looked like he got kicked, and I’m glad he did. I’ve never seen anything like that. It was unacceptable.”

Betts played the first six years of his big-league career with the Boston Red Sox, on the other side of one of baseball’s fiercest rivalries, so he was accustomed to being the subject of scorn in the Bronx. But never before in his 11 big-league seasons had he seen fans take such aggressive actions toward a player.

Although he was visibly angry with the fans after the match, he bore no ill will towards them after the match.

“It doesn’t matter, we lost, it’s irrelevant,” Betts said of the play. “I’m fine. [The fan] It’s fine. Everything is great. We lost the game, and that’s what I’m focusing on. We have to turn the page and get ready for Game 5 on Wednesday.

Dodgers reliever Ben Kasparius, who threw the first two innings of the bullpen on Tuesday night, allowing one run and one hit, walking three and striking out one, grew up as a Red Sox fan in Westport, Conn., and said he has attended some 50-60 games in Yankee Stadium as a kid, and he always wore his Red Sox gear.

Was the right-hander surprised by what happened to Betts?

“No, not at all,” Casarius said. “I thought it was an interesting moment, just a few throws into the game. Obviously there’s history with this team and [Mookie] Playing for the Red Sox as long as he did. “It was kind of like a ‘here we are’ moment early on.”

The Dodgers had a “here we go again” moment in the top of the first inning when Betts doubled into the right corner with one out and Freddie Freeman lined a two-run homer into the right field seats for a 2-0 lead. It was it all over again for Freeman, who hit a two-run homer in the first inning of Monday night’s 4-2 Game 3 win.

But the Yankees scored one out in the second inning, and Anthony Volpe crushed a poorly placed slider on the first pitch from Dodgers shortstop Daniel Hudson into the left field seats for a two-out grand slam and a 5-2 lead.

The Dodgers scored twice in the top of the fifth to cut the deficit to 5-4, but New York catcher Austin Wells launched a solo homer in the second into right field in the sixth for a 6-4 lead.

Then, the Yankees blew the game away with a five-run eighth off Dodgers right fielder Brent Honeywell, a rally highlighted by Torres’ three-run homer to right-center.

Struggling Yankees shortstop Aaron Judge capped the run with an RBI single to left after a walk, was hit by a pitch, reached on an error and flew out to center field in his first four plate appearances.

“They’re going to fight,” Betts said of the Yankees. “If you come this far, you have resilience in you. You’re going to fight all the time. We expected that. Obviously we didn’t play well today, and they did. That’s why they won.”

“We’re three games to one now. We feel good about that. But no lead is safe until you win game four.