Yankee Stadium witnessed yet another bench-clearing incident on Monday. After dropping their first series of the second half to the Los Angeles Dodgers, the New York Yankees hosted the Pittsburgh Pirates and jumped out to an early lead. However, the opener of the four-game series took a dramatic turn when José Caballero’s well-known pitch-clock strategy came into the spotlight, leading to a scene that was all too familiar in baseball. A day later, the Yankees manager stands in full defense of his shortstop.

“He didn’t really do anything last night,” Aaron Boone said, per Talkin’ Yanks on X. “I don’t know what Dennis (Santana) was doing. But pitchers sometimes hold the ball and do their clock games, and that’s okay, apparently, which I agree. It is okay. If you want to do that as a pitcher to disrupt the rhythm, but then I think the hitter should have the right to have their own rhythm to try and negate that a little bit. Much ado about nothing.”

During the eighth inning, the Yankees were doing everything they could to protect their 8-5 lead, built on Jazz Chisholm Jr.’s three-run homer in the first inning. With one out and Austin Wells on first base, Caballero grounded into a 1-6-3 double play on a low slider, and it was not long before Dennis Santana was fuming.

He moved towards first base and started gesturing towards Caballero, who was already on his way to the dugout. And even though the shortstop couldn’t hear what was being said, he went back to confront Santana, and it was only a matter of time before players from both dugouts rushed to the diamond. While the bench-clearing did hint at the heated environment, no punches were thrown. The tension lasted for just over a minute before the two sides went back to their respective dugouts.

Meanwhile, Santana had to be held back by Bryan Reynolds and catcher Rafael Flores. Notably, the Pirates’ relief pitcher’s irritation had its roots in the pitch that was waved off by home-plate umpire Paul Clemons earlier in the at-bat, and Caballero repeatedly trying to run down the pitch clock sure didn’t help either. However, the 29-year-old was well within the rules and didn’t believe Santana’s frustration was justified.

“He’s lucky that he doesn’t get an [automatic] ball right away,” Caballero said. “At this point, it’s been four years with the same rules. We should all know about the rules. The whole league should know who I am, what I do in the box. They should be aware of it.”

Under MLB’s pitch clock rules, pitchers have 15 seconds to deliver a pitch with the bases empty and 18 seconds when runners are on. Batters are required to be alert and facing the pitcher no later than the eight-second mark, while pitchers must also be ready to begin their motion by that point. In case a pitcher does not adhere to the time, he is penalized a ball, while if it is the batter that fails to follow the rule, he is hit with an automatic strike.

Even Aaron Boone reflected on the same after the game, saying:

“It’s a weird timing thing for guys. When not a lot of guys do it, it can catch you off guard a little bit. Frankly, I think more guys should explore it. That way, you take the pitcher out of having all the ability to disrupt timing.”

Although the confrontation added another tense moment to an already heated matchup, the Yankees stood firmly behind Jose Caballero.