Yankees-Rays ignite two bench-clearing moments

New York Yankees and Tampa Bay Rays clear the benches Nathan Ray Seebeck-USA TODAY Sports

Watch: Bean balls, stolen bases ignite two bench-clearing moments for Yankees-Rays

By Adam Gretz | Last updated 8/28/23

Emotions boiled over between the New York Yankees and Tampa Bay Rays on Sunday afternoon when they had two different bench-clearing incidents in the bottom of the eighth inning.

It all started when Tampa Bay's Randy Arozarena was hit by a pitch, making him the fifth different Tampa Bay player to be plunked on Sunday afternoon. He did not take kindly to it and that prompted the first bench-clearing of the inning.

Have a look.

Randy Arozarena wasn’t happy after getting plunked by Yankees reliever Albert Abreu and the benches cleared pic.twitter.com/8SdPY5Q7i4
— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) August 27, 2023

Cooler heads eventually prevailed, but only briefly.

After taking first base an obviously agitated and fired up Arozarena decided to do what any ultra competitive baseball player would do.

He stole second base. Then he stole third base.

The latter is what prompted the second bench clearing of the inning.

Benches cleared for a second time in Yankees-Rays after Arozarena stole 2nd and 3rd

(via @BallyRays)
pic.twitter.com/kc4mh7tsPX
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) August 27, 2023

Both teams are probably dealing with some pretty intense frustration at this point in the season and especially this weekend. The Yankees are mired in their worst season in nearly 30 years while the Rays have let the American League East slip away from them and had players hit by several pitches this series, notably on Sunday.

It has always been a fairly intense rivalry in the American League East and all of that is still true even when one of the teams has nothing to play for at the end of the year.

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