NEW YORK (AP) – Two New York Yankees fans who were expelled of Game 4 of the World Series for interfering with Los Angeles Dodgers right fielder Mookie Betts was banned from Game 5 on Wednesday night.

Betts jumped the retaining wall in foul territory and caught Gleyber Torres’ pop fly in the first inning Tuesday night, but a fan in the front row with a gray Yankees jersey grabbed Betts’ glove with both hands and took the ball out. Another fan grabbed Betts’ bare hand.

“Not good. There’s no room for that. It’s as simple as that,” New York manager Aaron Boone said Wednesday. “Come here, cheer, support your team, whatever. No room for that. I should never lay my hands on anyone.

The Yankees called the behavior “egregious and unacceptable.” The team said the fans involved are season ticket holders and that the club gave their Game 5 tickets to Calvin Young, a pediatric cancer patient who lives in New Jersey, and his family.

Young, 15, was unable to attend a children’s-only news conference at the ballpark in September to mark Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. The World Series appearance was his first postseason game at Yankee Stadium, according to the team.

“Yankee Stadium is known for its energy and intensity, but the exuberance of supporting your team can never cross the line and intentionally put players in physical danger,” the team said Wednesday in a statement. “The Yankees and Major League Baseball maintain a zero-tolerance policy toward the type of behavior displayed last night. These fans will not be allowed to attend tonight’s game in any capacity.

The Major League Baseball Players Association also expressed concerns about the safety and security of players.

“As with any incident at the stadium that affects players, we have been in regular contact with league security officials since last night’s incident and will closely monitor the response to this incident and the protective measures taken starting this evening,” the statement said. the union said in a statement.

Los Angeles left fielder Teoscar Hernández said he didn’t think there was anything to worry about Wednesday night.

“I played here for six years against the Yankees, and I never saw anything wrong with the opposing team,” he said.

“The fans know they can’t do that, what this fan did last night,” Hernández added. “It happens, but unfortunately for him, he’s going to think about that play from last night for a long time. …I’ve never seen anything like this, but now that I see pictures and videos and all that, it’s kind of crazy.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said he didn’t think his players were worried about their safety at Yankee Stadium and he thought banning fans involved was an appropriate step.

“If there’s one player I don’t think is worried about, it would be Mookie, considering he’s played a lot of games in this stadium (with rival Boston). It was just an unfortunate circumstance. I’m glad it was handled the right way, and we can just move on to tonight,” Roberts said. “As I understand it, they were expelled. We didn’t need them to be here, so they refunded their tickets. So it’s perfect, right?

When the game took place, the Dodgers had a two-run lead over Freddie Freeman’s two-run home run.

“I saw it. This was perhaps one of the most extreme: trying to snatch a ball. But at the same time, it’s a bit New York. I feel like that’s what you’re expecting here. You expect unique things,” Yankees left fielder Alex Verdugo said Wednesday.

“In the end, I didn’t think it was too serious. I think Mookie kind of got rid of that too. It’s just kind of the passion, I guess, of New Yorkers.

Betts reacted angrily in the moment, but quickly calmed down when Torres was immediately called out by the referees for fan interference.

“It was crazy,” Betts said after the Dodgers won Game 5 to win the World Series. “I have never experienced anything like this. I was telling my wife that this was like the second time in my life that I wanted to fight someone. I understand man. I understand. I don’t know what he was actually trying to do. But he had to do what he had to do. And that’s what it is.

Three years ago, Verdugo was playing outfield for the Red Sox when he was hit in the back by a ball thrown from the left field seats at Yankee Stadium. He was not injured.

Boston manager Alex Cora briefly took his team off the field that night, and the fan who threw the ball was banned for life from attending major championship matches.

The following season, fans in the notoriously noisy right-field bleachers at Yankee Stadium pelted Cleveland Guardians outfielders with bottles, cans and other debris in chaotic scene after New York rallied to a walk-off victory.

Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton and other Yankees players rushed to the outfield fence, trying to calm the crowd.

Moments earlier, Guardians outfielder Myles Straw had scaled the chain-link fence on the left to confront at least one fan face-to-face, while another fan nearby made a derogatory gesture.

Cleveland players were angry because they said a fan was celebrating an injury to Guardians left fielder Steven Kwan, who had just run violently into the wall chasing a game-tying double.

Straw called Yankees fans “the worst fan base on the planet” and was greeted the next day with chants of “Crybaby!” » by the famous Bleacher Creatures in the Bronx. The Yankees said that day they had increased security in the stands.

Torres has had two at-bats affected by fan interference in this World Series. With two outs in the ninth inning of Game 1 at Dodger Stadium, he hit a fly ball to left field, and a fan reached the top of the fence and caught the ball. Torres got a double.

Torres hit a three-run homer to right field in the eighth inning Tuesday night.

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A previous version of this story corrected that Torres’ homer did not provide the final runs of the night for the Yankees.

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