Rays manager Kevin Cash takes shot at Yankees after ‘grossly mishandled’ situation in 2020

It took only five pitches into the Yankees versus Rays game on Sunday afternoon for both teams to be warned not to throw at each other. After Jordan Montgomery got a little zesty with his pitch location, which was seemingly inadvertent, Tampa was clearly frustrated. Even skipper Aaron Boone stated that there was “definitely no intent” after the victory in extra innings.

“Definitely no intent,” Boone said. “But I understand their anger. You see Meadows get hit up around the shoulder. I’d be upset on our side whether it’s unintentional or not. I think it was clear that Monty, though, was really struggling to find his command there the first couple of innings and it kind of got away from him.”

If you are unaware of the tension between the Yankees and Rays, we can reflect back to last season, when a fiery and heated rivalry sparked a few hostile scenarios. Closer Aroldis Chapman threw a fastball targeted at Michael Brosseau, which soared over his head in what would’ve been a devastating injury. There was a reason to believe that the Yankees were targeting hitters out of anger, and Rays’ manager Kevin Cash fired back after the game, stating:

“It’s ridiculous. Enough is enough. … It was mishandled by the Yankees.”

“Poor judgement. Poor coaching. Poor teaching.”

“I can assure you, other than three years ago, there hasn’t been one pitch thrown with intent from any of our guys. Somebody has to be accountable and the last thing I’ll say is I have a whole damn stable full of guys that throw 98 mph.”

Following the Yankee victory over Tampa, Cash took one last shot at the Yankees after old memories were brought up due to Montgomery’s poor pitch location.

He mentioned the lack of suspensions for Chapman and Masahiro Tanaka and how things continue to roll over. Clearly, Boone believes that his team wasn’t targeting anybody intentionally, but it is always a bad sign when it happens early, and the pitch is hat shoulder height.