NEW YORK — Cleveland Guardians outfielder Oscar Mercado had plenty to say following the disappointing loss to the New York Yankees Saturday, not so much about the game itself but about the actions of the Yankees fans following their comeback win.
Gleyber Torres hit a walk-off single in the bottom of the 9th inning to win the game for the Yankees 5-4, but instead of celebrating their team's win, Yankees fans sitting in the outfield began throwing trash onto the field and at players.
The issues began earlier in the ninth inning when fans were heard cheering when Steven Kwan was injured after he ran head-first into the wall during a play.
"Kwan was a little shaken up and had some cuts in his face and there was a specific Yankee fan in left field that was celebrating Kwan getting hurt," Mercado said. "It's almost like it's just acts of violence. You can't say stuff like that, especially when someone gets hurt."
Outfielder Myles Straw also heard the fans cheering on Kwan's injury.
"Kwan is the nicest guy on the planet. That's my teammate, that's my brother and some of the things said to him, for me just wasn't going to fly," Straw said. "The guy went head-first into a hard wall. There's no business for saying the things those guys said to him."
Straw and Mercado called out the fans, turning to them in the stands and Straw jumping up on the fence to call them out.
"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," Straw said.
But wasn't just the words fans said about Kwan that Mercado and others had an issue with—it was the actions that followed Torres' walk-off hit.
Beer cans, bottles and other items were thrown on the field and at players, including Mercado.
"To just throw stuff at me and take it like it's nothing. They need to be held accountable, and I think there should be rules set up for that because in all honesty, that's ridiculous and that should not happen," Mercado said. "Say whatever you want to say do whatever you want to do. But at the end of the day, there's got to be consequences for behavior like that."
Straw said the bullpen was also getting hit with trash and food as well, but wasn't surprised that such a display of fandom was seen in New York.
"It doesn't surprise me," Straw said. "I've never seen anything like this anywhere else."
Mercado did take the time to appreciate some Yankees players ending their celebrations to come to the outfield and try and control the fans but doesn't wish to see actions like the ones inside Yankees Stadium ever again.
"You can chirp all you want, but don't celebrate someone getting hurt. That's classless. That shouldn't be a thing. You can root for your team all you want, I'm not denying that. And honestly, I think it's good for the game when people are die-hard fans, but do it the right way," Mercado said. "It's all fun and games, just don't be an ***** about it and don't and definitely don't bring violence into it."
Camryn Justice is a digital content producer at News 5 Cleveland. Follow her on Twitter @camijustice.
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