Baltimore Orioles infielder Blaze Alexander addressed the incident between himself and Boston Red Sox infielder Nick Sogard.
The Baltimore Orioles dropped their fourth straight game this past Friday against the Boston Red Sox. The game featured just one run with the Red Sox emerging victorious 1-0, but it still featured plenty of action, including a benches-clearing incident involving Orioles infielder Blaze Alexander.
In the bottom of the eighth inning, Alexander slid aggressively into second base trying to break up a 6-4-3 double play and appeared to clip Red Sox second baseman Nick Sogard in the process.
The Red Sox turned the double play, but afterwards Sogard got up and looked back at Alexander, prompting a confrontation that led to both dugouts and bullpens emptying onto the field.
Emotions were likely running high given what had happened just a day prior. Red Sox player Jahmai Jones had a hard slide himself at second base, colliding into Alexander, though MLB ruled the slide was legal.
Sogard then hit a go-ahead home run in that same game, adding to the tension that had been building between the two clubs. Alexander's aggressive slide into Sogard the following day was widely seen as retaliation, which is why Sogard glanced him down after the play.
After the game, Alexander commented on the incident directly. "I wanted to know why I'm getting stared at, and yeah, that's really it," Alexander said, per Jake Rill of MLB.com.
Alexander has been a fierce competitor for Baltimore this year and this is not the first time that intensity has boiled over. Earlier in the season he was drilled by a pitch from Kansas City Royals reliever Lucas Erceg on the left hand, causing a fracture that cost him weeks of playing time. Alexander voiced his frustration toward Erceg in that moment and the benches cleared then as well.
That has been the only real interruption in what has otherwise been a breakout year for Alexander. He arrived this past offseason after Baltimore acquired him in a trade with the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Across 89 games, the 27-year-old utility man has posted a .316 batting average, .368 on-base percentage and .797 OPS with four home runs and 30 RBIs. He has also swiped nine bases and is a constant threat on the basepaths, making him one of the more valuable and versatile pieces on this roster.
With the incident behind him, Alexander and the Orioles have far bigger concerns heading into Game 3 of the four-game set against Boston. Their current losing streak has them sitting three games back of the Cleveland Guardians for the final wild card spot in the American League entering Saturday.
