It’s bad enough that the Baltimore Orioles edged the Boston Red Sox on Saturday night at Fenway Park to hand the home team their fourth straight loss, but Austin Hays made sure there wasn’t any kind of party that broke out on his watch in Beantown.
Austin Hays murders a beach ball, kills the vibes for Boston Red Sox fans
In the fourth inning of what would eventually be a 13-12 win for the Orioles on Saturday night, a beach ball got loose from the stands and made its way into foul territory near left field, patrolled by Hays. Time was called by the umpire and Hays made sure that that particular beach ball wouldn’t cause any more issues, stomping on it with his cleats and letting the air out of not only it, but the Red Sox faithful as well.
Watch the video below and listen to the reaction from the crowd once Hays destroys the beach ball and then sends it back into the crowd.
Austin Hays is NOT a fan of beach balls 😂 pic.twitter.com/QHqACf4gRl
— Baseball Quotes (@BaseballQuotes1) September 9, 2023
If you’re wanting to make a statement, that’s how you do it. Hays made sure he could focus on the task at hand, which was hoping starting pitcher Jack Flaherty (traded from St. Louis to Baltimore at the MLB trade deadline) could subdue an early Red Sox rally after Baltimore had jumped out to a 7-2 edge.
Hays also did his part at the plate on Saturday, going 1-for-5 and scoring a pair of runs. It’s the continuation of what has been a fine season for Hays, who earned his first All-Star Game appearance earlier this year. Through his first 125 games of the regular season, the 28-year-old Hays is slashing .286/.333/.462 with 14 home runs and 59 RBI.
The loss for Boston sent the Red Sox to 7.0 games back in the American League Wild Card standings. While losing a beach ball will kill any vibe, Boston fans watching their team see its season go up in smoke is an even bigger letdown.