Orioles-Yankees drama continues to boil after Gunnar Henderson HBP, broadcast callout

Ever since Aaron Judge took a pitch to his hand earlier this week, the New York Yankees were none too pleased. The Baltimore Orioles had been bracing for whether or not New York would retaliate.

While most agreed that the pitch that struck Judge wasn't intentional, there was a lot of chatter about the Orioles' willingness to pitch up and in, without much in the way of command. There were also a lot of people that thought that the Yankees could send a message.

It took until the seventh inning on Wednesday, but that moment did finally come when Gunnar Henderson came to the plate. Yankees pitcher Victor Gonzalez wasted little time in drilling Henderson in the shoulder with a fastball.

While Henderson was understandably frustrated, everyone stayed in their dugouts and behaved. However, the Orioles' broadcast made sure to make their displeasure known that the umpiring crew didn't issue any warnings or take any action as it is looked VERY suspicious to say the least.

Yankees' cheap shot on Gunnar Henderson put on blast by Orioles' broadcast crew

While some think that hitting guys to protect their own players is just "part of the game", this sort of nonsense has to stop. Of course it stinks that Judge got hurt on a pitch up and in, as these sorts of rivalries are at their best when both teams are at full strength. But drilling Henderson is not the sort of behavior that needs to be tolerated.

If the Yankees are upset about Orioles pitchers "not having the command" to throw up and in, they need to take a hard look in the mirror as they rank third in baseball with 42 bit-by-pitch this season behind just the Cincinnati Reds and Miami Marlins. Do they really want other teams treating them the same way they treated Henderson? We highly doubt it.

All this does is create more tension that could cost both teams down the line. Now, Baltimore could see the Yankees drilling Henderson as an overreaction and feel like THEY now have to protect their guys and lead to an arms race, benches clearing, and guys getting hurt and/or suspended. That doesn't help anybody.

Unfortunately, the die is cast now and the Orioles' remaining seven games against the Yankees this season could get more interesting than anyone should want.

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