BOSTON — Houston Astros reliever Héctor Neris intentionally balked to advance a runner to third on Saturday, then had an exchange with Red Sox third base coach Kyle Hudson that led to a dustup between the teams.
Neris surrendered Trevor Story’s two-out RBI double in the seventh inning of Houston’s 7-3 loss.
The right-hander then balked, moving Story to third, before Carlos Narváez bounced to shortstop for the final out.
As Neris made his way off the mound, he had words with Hudson and yelled toward the Red Sox dugout, causing both teams, including bullpens, to come on the field before order was quickly restored.
Asked if he felt the Red Sox were stealing signs, Neris responded: “Maybe. Maybe yes, maybe no.”
“But I still wanted to concentrate,” the 36-year-old right-hander continued. “In (that) situation, I want to do what I’m feeling in the moment. That is the reason why I moved him to third.”
Neris declined to specify what he said to Hudson that caused the benches to empty.
“Nothing. It’s part of the game,’’ he said with a grin. “Something funny. People come into (the clubhouse) maybe to hear what happened, but nothing serious.”
Astros manager Joe Espada, speaking to the media before Neris, had no insight into what caused the confrontation.
“I’m actually going to ask Neris,” he said. “I really don’t know what words were exchanged to be honest with you.”
Asked what caused the benches to clear and if sign-stealing was the issue, Red Sox manager Alex Cora directed the questions to Neris.
Pitching calls in the major leagues are relayed electronically through PitchCom, but a baserunner on second can determine what pitch is coming by looking for a pitcher’s grip. A runner on second also can relay where a catcher is setting up to help a batter with pitch location.
The Astros were disciplined by Major League Baseball after it found the team used electronics to steal signs during their run to the 2017 World Series title and again in the 2018 season.
Cora was the bench coach for Houston in 2017.
In the wake of the sign-stealing scandal, he departed Boston in January 2020 in what was called a mutual decision. After serving a one-season suspension handed down by MLB, he was rehired as Red Sox manager in November 2020.
