Amid all the regular drama that comes when the Yankees and the Red Sox meet up, a major source of attention came in the form of one of the series' umpires, Angel Hernandez.
With the Boston Red Sox leading the host New York Yankees 4-1 before the bottom of the ninth inning Tuesday night, a fan in the stands threw a beer can toward Kimbrel, who was heading out of the bullpen toward the field. "He's a bad umpire".
"But he shouldn't be around these playoff games", Sabathia, who finished with 35 strikes on 59 pitches, added. Upon hearing about Sabathia's remarks, Red Sox pitcher Rick Porcello took the opportunity to mock Sabathia's complaints. He entered the game in the ninth with a three-run lead, loaded the bases, allowed two runs, nearly gave up a walk-off grand slam to Gary Sanchez, before finally getting Gleyber Torres on a grounder to third to wrap it up. I thought Angel Hernandez called a good game. There were a few questionable calls, but generally, he was consistent with his zone.
For the first eight innings, the Yankee bats looked lifeless, managing just four hits and one run on a Brett Gardner sac-fly.
Hernandez's Game 3 performance at first base was a different story - he was terrible (like, so bad) - but in this case, Sabathia made it too easy for Porcello to call him out.