The New York Yankees and Baltimore Orioles were involved in a huge on-field brawl on Friday night, when Aaron Judge stepped in to separate his teammates from the opposing teammates.
The Yankees captain, who is 6-foot-7 and weighs 286 pounds, was seen in the middle of the benches-clearing brawl in the ninth inning of his team’s 4-1 victory at Camden Yards.
The fight began after a nasty pitch from teammate and reliever Clay Holmes hit outfielder Heston Kjerstard’s head at bat.
Orioles manager Brandon Hyde led the charge by storming onto the field after the play, which took place with the Yankees with one out on the board in the inning.
The dugouts emptied and there was some pushing and elbowing, as seen in a viral video on X.
Aaron Judge was easily spotted in the Yankees-Orioles matchup due to his 6-foot-7 height.
The benches emptied Friday after Heston Kjerstad was hit in the head by a pitch in the ninth inning.
Kjerstad and the Orioles dugout react after his hit against the Yankees in a rainy Baltimore
Hyde was ejected and Holmes got a groundout and a strikeout to complete his 21st save.
Judge, meanwhile, had a memorable night in the AL East leaders’ showdown, finally hitting a home run in the third inning.
His major league-leading 33rd homer was his first in nine games as the teams opened a three-game series.
The Yankees won for just the sixth time in their last 21 games, but it was enough to move within one game of first-place Baltimore.
The Orioles have lost four straight and will finish with a losing record in the six-game homestand after being swept by the Chicago Cubs earlier in the week.
Judge, 32, hit his first solo homer in nine games in the third inning to lead New York to victory.
Baltimore hitters went 1 for 9 with runners in scoring position, extending their three-game mark in that category to 1 for 25.
Yankees starting pitcher Garrit Cole (2-1) was making just his fifth start of the season after spending the first 2 1/2 months on the injured list.
He limited Balitmore to one run and five hits with seven strikeouts and one walk in his longest start of the season.
Tommy Kahnle and Luke Weaver each worked one inning, leading to Holmes. Orioles rookie Cade Povich (1-4) allowed three runs and five hits in 5 1/3 innings. He walked five, but none of those runners ended up scoring.