Alex Cora could face discipline from Major League Baseball for suggesting the Boston Red Sox intentionally threw at New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge during Saturday's game.
Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole drilled Red Sox slugger Rafael Devers with a pitch in the first inning and intentionally walked him in the fourth. Sox starter Brayan Bello threw behind Judge in the sixth.
After Saturday's game, a livid Cora called out Cole and the Yankees for hitting Devers, which he deemed intentional.
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“They can say whatever they want. The intentional walk [made it] loud and clear: ‘I don’t want to face him,’” the Red Sox manager said. “Second pitch of the game against Raffy, you see it. It was intentional. I’m not going to back up.”
Cora was asked after Sunday's series finale whether the feud was settled.
“It was closed [Saturday] around the sixth inning," he answered. "We had our chance. It didn’t happen.”
According to Mark Sanchez of The New York Post, MLB is investigating Cora for those comments, which all but confirmed the Red Sox purposefully threw at Judge in the sixth inning of Saturday's game.
UPDATE (Tuesday, Sept. 17): MLB spoke with Cora about his comments and has decided not to suspend the Red Sox manager, MassLive's Chris Cotillo reports.
Judge took the high road after the Yankees' 5-2 win on Sunday, although he threw in a slight jab at his division rival.
“You play this game for a while, things like that happen,” Judge said. “I know they’re upset. I think three of their guys got hit that day. I think they’re just protecting their players. Something’s gotta happen. That’s the way this game gets policed and has been policed for 100 years.
“I think the biggest thing is, just don’t miss when you do it.”
Boston dropped three out of four to New York, putting the team 4.5 games back in the American League Wild Card race with only 12 games left on the schedule. Next, Cora's club will head to St. Petersburg for a three-game series with the Tampa Bay Rays.