Two fans at Yankee Stadium were ejected from Game 4 of the World Series after one pried a foul ball out of the glove of Los Angeles Dodgers right fielder Mookie Betts on Tuesday night.
They’re additionally banned from attending Game 5 on Wednesday night, which is also taking place at Yankee Stadium.
Betts leaped at the wall in foul territory and initially caught Gleyber Torres’ pop up in the first inning, but a fan in the first row with a grey Yankees’ road jersey grabbed Betts’ glove with both hands and pulled the ball out. Another fan grabbed Betts’ non-glove hand.
Betts reacted angrily, and Torres was immediately called out on fan interference.
“When it comes to the person in play, it doesn’t matter,” Betts said. “We lost. It’s irrelevant. I’m fine. He’s fine. Everything’s cool. We lost the game and that’s what I’m kind of focused on. We got to turn the page and get ready for tomorrow.”
The Dodgers had a two-run lead at the time on Freddie Freeman’s two-run homer, but the Dodgers were unable to complete a sweep and took an 11-4 loss to the Yankees.
“I’ve never seen anything like it,” said Dodgers rookie pitcher Ben Casparius. “It’s pretty interesting. It was obviously very early in the game so I think it kind of set the tone.”
It was the second time Torres had an at-bat impacted by fan interference this World Series. With two outs in the ninth inning of Game 1 at Dodger Stadium, Torres hit a fly ball to left field, and a fan reached over and caught the ball. Torres was awarded a double.
Torres later hit a three-run homer to right field for New York’s final runs.