After the benches cleared without any physical contact in the third inning of the Red Sox game against the Yankees Wednesday night, things were taken to another level in the seventh inning.
Stemming from Tyler Austin's slide into shortstop Brock Holt, which emptied both benches, Red Sox reliever Joe Kelly lit the fuse one more time by hitting the Yankees designated hitter in the back with a 97 mph fastball. After throwing the bat down to the ground, Austin started walking to the mound to confront Kelly.
Kelly waved on Austin, who immediately started running toward the Red Sox' pitcher with catcher Chrisitan Vazquez in pursuit. Kelly managed to dodge the Yankees' hitter, attempting to get two punches in with Austin's face on the ground.
Austin sprung up and threw a punch which hit Red Sox third base coach Carlos Febles, but didn't come close to Kelly.
As the dugouts and bullpens emptied, Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge could be seen corralling Kelly toward the Red Sox dugout, although in more of a peaceful manner than trying to escalate the situation.
Both Kelly and Austin were ejected.
Benches clear, punches thrown in Yankees-Red Sox after Tyler Austin is hit by a pitch from Joe Kelly. pic.twitter.com/wvqoak8QMV
— MLB (@MLB) April 12, 2018Joe Kelly saying "let's go" is my new spirit animal pic.twitter.com/KKXVXqxUHj
— Red (@SurvivingGrady) April 12, 2018
