A squirrel stole the spotlight at Yankee Stadium on Friday night.
The Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees were locked in a tight scoreless game when the contest came to a sudden halt in the fourth inning.
A squirrel darted across the field, first brushing against Red Sox rookie Jhostynxon Garcia in the batter’s box before scampering directly toward the mound. Yankees starter Max Fried stood his ground as the critter paused near the landing spot of his front foot, drawing laughter and gasps from the crowd.
From there, the chase continued. The animal zigzagged across the dirt, forcing first baseman Ben Rice to hop aside before sprinting along the foul line. Fans erupted with every move, turning the interruption into one of the night’s loudest moments.
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“That’s the first time it’s happened to me,” Fried said, as transcribed by Brian Hoch of MLB.com. “It’s definitely a little strange, but it’s all in good fun.”
The episode revived memories of past wildlife appearances in the Bronx. A squirrel once clung to the right-field foul pole during the 2007 season, and in 2021 a stray cat famously roamed the outfield against the Orioles while fans chanted.
Even on Friday, the Yankee Stadium crowd of 46,064 seemed to enjoy the diversion more than they had the game itself, which ended in a 1-0 Red Sox win.
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This time, the intruder disappeared into the right-field scoreboard, leaving behind a storyline that briefly overshadowed the rivalry.
The game pressed on, but the squirrel’s dash across the diamond may live on in Red Sox-Yankees lore.