Photo: Getty
Things got heated between fans at Yankee Stadium and a group of Cleveland Guardians players on Saturday after the New York Yankees walked off with a 5-4 victory.
Mercado, 27, can be seen exchanging words with at least one fan before security and his teammates pull him away as fans continued to throw their beverages at the outfielder.
Eventually, members of the Yankees sprint into the outfield in an attempt to quell the conflict as the Guardians walk away from the scene.
PEOPLE has reached out to the Yankees and Yankee Stadium for comment.
Speaking with reporters after the game, Mercado said one of the beer cans he caught during the altercation nearly struck him in the face. He said the can “still had beer inside” when it was thrown at him.
“You can celebrate and chirp all you want during the game, but don’t try to get people hurt. That’s not how things work,” the Colombia native said. “And honestly, at the end of the day, we are human beings as well. So personally, I’m not going to just sit there and allow them to throw stuff at me and take it like it’s nothing.”
Mercado said the fans involved should “be held accountable” for their actions, adding that this “should not happen.”
“Say whatever you want to say and do whatever you want to do,” he added. “But at the end of the day, there’s got to be consequences for behavior like that.”
According to Mercado, one Yankees fan in particular “was celebrating” after fellow outfielder Steven Kwan was injured when he ran into the outfield wall while attempting a play in the ninth inning of Saturday’s game.
Shortly before the item-throwing incident began,Bally Sports Cleveland capturedoutfielder Myles Straw climbing the wall and confronting fans, with Mercado beside him.
Straw, 27, told reporters after the game that his emotions “got to me a little bit” but said he felt obligated to defend his teammate.
“Kwan is the nicest person on the planet. That’s my guy. That’s my teammate. That’s my brother. Some of the things that were said to him, just for me, wasn’t going to fly,” Straw said, viaBally Sports Cleveland.
“There’s no business for saying the things those guys said to him,” he later added. “It got to me a little bit and I said what I said — and if I were to do it again, I probably would have said the same thing. That’s my guy.”
“I don’t think people can throw stuff at our players on the field,” he explained, viaBally Sports Cleveland. “That’s never going to be okay.”
“Obviously, we certainly don’t want to put anybody in danger,” he told reporters, per NBC Sports Chicago. “Love the intensity, but can’t be throwing stuff out on the field.”
source: people.com
