Benches cleared in the eighth inning during the Red Sox-Orioles game on Friday night. With Boston leading 1-0 and Blaze Alexander on first, Luis Robert Jr. grounded into a double play. As Alexander left second base, he exchanged words with Nick Sogard and Trevor Story.

Replays showed Alexander slid aggressively and continued past the bag without making contact. "I thought, clean slide into the bag, and just getting stared at," Alexander said. "Wanted to know why I'm getting stared at." Nick Sogard commented, "He slid in pretty hard." The benches and bullpens emptied, but no one was ejected. Boston held on for the win after Aroldis Chapman recorded his 399th career save in the ninth, sending Baltimore to its fourth straight defeat. On a night the Orioles finished three games behind Cleveland for the final AL wild-card spot, Alexander admitted he hoped his words might spark a rally. "Yeah, definitely," Alexander said. "Obviously, Chapman is coming in, you know.

Get the crowd going a little bit." Boston improved their position while Baltimore fell further behind in the wild-card race.