Stadium: Fry Fish reliever!
Sam Dyson got an official Bronx welcome Thursday night.
Yankees fans gave the Marlins relief pitcher quite a greeting after he walked Alex Rodriguez on four inside pitches in the eighth inning, denying the chance to see Rodriguez record his 3,000th career hit .
Dyson entered the game to start the eighth inning with his team trailing 53. He walked Chase Headley, bringing Rodriguez to the plate. Rodriguez already had two hits in the game, moving him to 2,999 for his career. The stadium buzzed with excitement as Rodriguez stepped into the batter’s box. Fans in the leftfield seats warned each other to watch out because they were diving for the ball if Rodriguez hit it out. Fans debated what they could sell the milestone baseball for.
But Rodriguez never got a chance. Dyson threw four straight inside fastballs, two that Rodriguez had to move to get out of the way of or he would have been drilled. As Rodriguez took ball four, the fans let Dyson have it. Chants of “you suck” and “ahole” filled the Stadium.
“You can’t really understand what they’re saying,” Dyson said. “You pretty much tune everything out. It’s just noise. I couldn’t hear exactly what they were saying. I just heard they were loud. That was it.”
Dyson said he did not avoid throwing a strike to Rodriguez purposely to avoid being the guy who gave up his 3,000th hit.
“I was trying to get him out,” Dyson said. “I was trying to beat him with my best stuff and if he beats me, oh well.”
When Marlins manager Dan Jennings came to the mound to take the ball from Dyson the fans who were left booed with every bit of air in their lungs.
This was just the second time Dyson, 27, ever faced Rodriguez. His previous claim to fame was a bar fight with a minor league teammate in 2014 in which he suffered a broken jaw.
That might have been less painful than what the Yankees fans gave him Thursday night.