Benches clear after White Sox's Michael Kopech nails Orioles' Jorge Mateo with a 99 mph fastball

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A four-game series between the Baltimore Orioles and Chicago White Sox opened Friday night with a relatively harmless bench clearing in the second inning after pitcher Michael Kopech hit Orioles shortstop Jorge Mateo with a 99 mph fastball to the back. 

Kopech had a 1-2 count when he nailed Mateo near the left shoulder with a similar pitch to one that plunked Chicago’s Josh Harrison Thursday.

Jorge Mateo of the Baltimore Orioles is hit by a pitch, which led to benches clearing in the second inning at Guaranteed Rate Field June 24, 2022, in Chicago.  (Quinn Harris/Getty Images)

The Orioles cleared their bench first with the White Sox following, but tensions didn’t erupt into anything physical. 

"I don’t know what happened there, what were they thinking. But I really don’t think it was intentional," Mateo said through a translator.

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The Chicago White Sox and Baltimore Orioles cleared their benches in the second inning after Jorge Mateo (3) of the Orioles was hit by a pitch from Michael Kopech (34) of the White Sox at Guaranteed Rate Field June 24, 2022, in Chicago.  (Quinn Harris/Getty Images)

"In the heat of the moment, it’s normal," he said of the disruption. "People start talking, saying stuff. You feel something. You feel uncomfortable. But it’s normal in the heat of the moment."

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Kopech said the errant pitch wasn’t intentional and that things escalated because "some guys hopped the rail and started talking." 

Players from the Baltimore Orioles and Chicago White Sox exchange words after Jorge Mateo of the Baltimore