Oscar Mercado was out in right field when Gleyber Torres’ walk-off single dropped onto the outfield grass, finishing off a 5-4 comeback win for the Yankees over Mercado’s Guardians.
The next object to hit the outfield grass was a beer can, then many more as unruly fans in right field embarrassed themselves by throwing debris onto the field, almost hitting Mercado.
“It came close, and one came right at my face, and I caught it,” Mercado said after the game. “It was beer cans. They still had beer inside. Like I said, you can celebrate and chirp all you want, but don’t try to get people hurt. That’s not how things work.”
Mercado expressed his appreciation for the Yankees, like Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton, who cut their celebration short by running to the outfield and trying to restore order, but the Guardians outfielders were clearly unhappy with fan behavior in that ninth inning.
“At the end of the day, we’re human beings as well,” Mercado said. “I’m not gonna sit there and allow them to just throw stuff at me and take it like it’s nothing. They need to be held accountable. I think there should be rules set up for that, because in all honesty, that’s ridiculous and should not happen…there’s gotta be consequences for behavior like that.”
The unruly behavior from the fans in the outfield began before the walk-off hit, when Yankees shortstop Isiah Kiner-Falefa banged a game-tying double off the left field wall with two outs in the ninth. Cleveland left fielder Steven Kwan made a strong effort to make a running catch, but crashed into the wall and was shaken up, and as fans yelled down towards Kwan, center fielder Myles Straw scaled the fence, held his pose atop the left field wall, and yelled towards a fan, which Mercado said was the result of one fan celebrating Kwan being injured.
“Kwan was a little shaken up and had come cuts on his face,” Mercado said. “There was a specific Yankee fan in left field celebrating Kwan getting hurt. It’s almost like acts of violence. You can’t say stuff like that, especially when someone gets hurt. So I just let him know and said ‘You can chirp all you want, but don’t celebrate someone getting hurt.’ That’s classless. That shouldn’t be a thing.”
Straw added, "Some of the things that were said to [Kwan], for me, wasn’t gonna fly. My emotions got the best of me for a minute."
Mercado said the trash-talking from fans in the outfield had been playful for most of the game, until Kwan came up lame after crashing into the wall.
“I think it’s a good thing for the game when people are die-hard fans, but do it the right way,” Mercado said. “Don’t be an a-hole about it, and definitely don’t bring violence into it.”
Follow Ryan Chichester on Twitter: @ryanchichester1
LISTEN NOW on the Audacy App
Sign Up and Follow Audacy Sports
Facebook | Twitter | Instagram