Santana shouts at Caballero in Yankees' win over Pirates - ESPN

NEW YORK — The Yankees' offense, fueled by two more home runs from Jazz Chisholm Jr., awoke from its recent struggles with eight runs in a win over the Pittsburgh Pirates at Yankee Stadium on Monday night. But the real fireworks erupted in the eighth inning with a benches-clearing kerfuffle after Yankees infielder Jose Caballero, a noted irritant, irritated Pirates right-hander Dennis Santana.

With a runner at first base and one out, Caballero hit a ground ball back to Santana, who started a 1-6-3 double play to end the inning. But instead of walking back to his dugout, Santana looked over to Caballero, mouthed words, made gestures and marched toward him when Caballero responded with words.

Held back by teammates, Santana continued yelling at Caballero and pointing at him until emotions fizzled.

After the Yankees' 8-5 win, Santana explained Caballero's strategy of waiting until the pitch clock ticks down to eight seconds before making eye contact — a ploy he regularly utilizes that has previously rankled opponents — spawned the anger.

«He can do whatever he wants, but we're already losing,» Santana said. "[It's] the eighth inning and you got a couple of hits. Like, get ready."

The rulebook states batters «must be in the box and alert to the pitcher by the eight-second mark» or they'll be charged with an automatic strike. Caballero, in turn, has devised an unusual pre-pitch routine of waiting until the last moment to look up at the pitcher with the goal of dictating the pace of the at-bat. It is, by definition, legal, but it has irked teams — including the Yankees, before Caballero joined them last season — and prompted a warning for an «intentional delay» last month against the Toronto Blue Jays.

Major League Baseball