Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora will not face a suspension from MLB following his comments suggesting Brayan Bello‘s pitch to New York Yankees star Aaron Judge was intentional.
On Saturday, in the sixth inning of the Red Sox’s 7-1 victory, Bello threw a fastball at Judge’s legs. This sparked controversy, as Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole had previously hit Boston’s hitter Rafael Devers accidentally.
Alex Cora told reporters he believed Cole’s pitch to Devers was intentional. After an intentional walk to Devers in his next at-bat, Cora said, “He doesn’t want to face him. That’s the bottom line. He told us with the intentional walk that after the first at-bat, he hit him.”
A reporter later asked Cora if he considered the matter “closed.” “Yeah,” Cora answered, according to MLB.com’s Ian Browne. “It was closed yesterday, like, around the sixth inning, so you know, we had our chance. It didn’t happen. We have to move on.”
Aaron Judge 99 of the New York Yankees is watching from the dugout during the third inning of the baseball game against the New York Mets. IMAGO / NurPhoto.
What happened with MLB’s investigation of Cora?
Cora’s comments about an alleged “settling of scores” led to an MLB investigation. According to Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com, the league investigated the matter for two days and spoke with Cora. Following the investigation, a source informed Cotillo that “no announcement of a suspension is forthcoming.”
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Aaron Judge responds to Cora
The Yankees outfielder responded to Cora’s comments, saying he saw the pitch as a way to “protect his players.” Aaron Judge stated: “Things like that happen… something’s got to happen, and that’s the way this game kind of gets policed and has been policed for 100 years,” Judge told reporters, according to Julian McWilliams of The Boston Globe. “So the biggest thing is, don’t miss when you do it.”
