Tampa Bay Rays fans furious as New York Yankees pitchers hit Randy Arozarena twice after first-inning home run: "Bush league Yankees"

Things are getting chippy between the New York Yankees and the Tampa Bay Rays. Randy Arozarena started the game with a solo home run in the first inning, giving Tampa the early lead on Friday.

When Arozarena stepped into the box for his second at-bat, he was hit by a pitch. There's nothing wrong with that, but when he was hit in his third at-bat, the Rays took notice.

The Rays were furious as Arozarena was plunked for the second consecutive time. The pitch was nowhere close to the zone and looked rather intentional. Both hit-by-pitches were on the first pitch of the at-bat.

After the umpires gathered, they decided to keep Albert Abreu in the game, which Tampa Bay manager Kevin Cash could not understand. He gave the umpire an earful leading to his ejection. Cash was the only person ejected during the incident.

Tampa Bay Rays fans didn't hesitate to take to Twitter to tell New York Yankees fans how they felt. This could be the start of something that doesn't finish until the season's end.

Fans are ready to see the MLB adopt the NHL rules and let the players fight. Given the size of the players on both sides, it would be an absolute slugfest. Baseball would gain an influx of new fans if that were the case.

Tampa Bay Rays won't forget about this matchup with the New York Yankees

This isn't the last time the Tampa Bay Rays and New York Yankees will match up in a series. After this series, the two teams play another three-game series in August.

The two teams have a history of not liking one another. In 2020, the two teams took turns plunking each other in retaliation. It ended up with Aroldis Chapman throwing at Mike Brosseau's head with a 101 mph fastball. Manager Kevin Cash took to the postgame interview to warn the Yankees that he has a "stable full of guys that throw 98 mph."

The issue in 2020 dissolved, and things were tame between the two clubs until Friday night. It will be interesting to see how the Rays handle the situation. As Cash is no stranger to retaliation, will we see more batters getting plunked in this series?

About the author

Jared "Bloomy" Bloom is a journalist covering Major League Baseball at Sportskeeda and a former college baseball pitcher from Illinois, who just graduated with a Master's degree in Sport Psychology.

A writer with over 3 years of experience, Jared is consistently more concerned with quality than quantity, thoroughly checking multiple sources of information, and prides himself in being knowledgeable not just about MLB, but the game of baseball in general. He loves breaking down plays and game-changing moments, as well as looking closer into players' statistics.

Jared is a die-hard Chicago White Sox fan, and one of his earliest memories is seeing his great-grandfather, a huge Sox fan, in his rocking chair watching a game. Jared started playing from the age of 5 with his grandfather coaching him early on.

Jared loved Tim Lincecum for his quirky delivery and looked up to him as a role model when playing. His current favorite is Phillies star Bryce Harper, an exciting player who doesn't let injuries hold him back. Jared's favorite sports moment is Mark Buehrle's opening day between-the-legs glove flip to first base in 2010.

When he is not watching or writing about baseball, Jared can be found racing BMX at his local Rockford BMX track or coaching his local youth travel baseball team.

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