Yankees, their fans assault Cleveland players

The only catch Cleveland right fielder Oscar Mercado could make in the ninth inning was a beer can thrown in his face.

Some fans in the notoriously rowdy right-field bleachers at Yankee Stadium hurled bottles, cans and debris at Cleveland outfielders in a chaotic scene Saturday, moments after New York rallied for a 5-4 win.

Instead of celebrating after Isiah Kiner-Falefa and pinch hitter Gleyber Torres had RBIs with two outs in the ninth, New York stars Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton and other New York players ran for the wall in right center field, trying to calm the crowd. .

Security personnel joined the effort to quell the riots.

“You certainly don’t want to put anyone in danger. I love the intensity, but you can’t throw things on the field,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said.

Cleveland closer Emmanuel Clase (0-2) came within a strike of preserving a 4-3 lead when Kiner-Falefa hit a 100 mph fastball for a tying double. Rookie left fielder Steven Kwan ran hard against the wall chasing the ball and a coach came out to check on him.

“Kwan was a little shaken up and had some cuts on his face and there was a specific Yankees fan in left field who was celebrating Kwan getting hurt,” Mercado said. “It’s almost as if they were acts of violence. You can’t say things like that, especially when someone gets hurt.”

“I just let him know, ‘Listen, man, you can screech all you want, but don’t celebrate someone getting hurt.’ That’s classless and that shouldn’t be a thing,” she said. “You can cheer for your team all you want, I don’t deny it. Honestly, it’s good for the game when there are die-hard fans, but do it the right way.”

Before play resumed, Mercado pointed to the stands and center fielder Myles Straw climbed the chain-link fence on the left to confront at least one fan face-to-face, while another nearby fan made a dismissive gesture.

“I think Myles was defending his teammate,” Cleveland manager Terry Francona said. “The boy is bleeding and we are checking him to see if he has a concussion, and I think the emotions probably got a little bit out of control.”

Torres followed up by hitting a single to right center field for the game-winning goal. As Mercado and Straw chased the ball into the hole, several fans began throwing objects at them.

“One came up to my face and I caught it. It was a beer can,” Mercado said.

“They need to be held accountable and I think there should be rules for that because that’s ridiculous and that shouldn’t happen,” he said. “Say what you want to say and do what you want to do, but at the end of the day there have to be consequences for behavior like that.”

He added: “I appreciate the Yankees players going out there and trying to control them and I have a lot of respect for that.”