With the Yankees mounting a fifth-inning rally Monday, Greg Bird wanted to reach base by any means necessary.
The Orioles’ Wei-Yin Chen threw Bird an inside pitch, and Bird winced, reacting as if he had been hit.
The acting was underwhelming. The plate umpire Clint Fagan ruled the ball fouled off the bottom of his bat and called Bird back into the batter’s box. Bird later admitted he knew the pitch nicked his bat, but was scared and caught off-guard, so was in a bit of a daze.
Bird was able to coax out a free base in the end, drawing a walk, which set up John Ryan Murphy for a two-run homer, putting the Yankees on top of a seesaw battle, 5-4.