“I said, ’Really, that’s going to happen to me in my MLB debut, that’s unbelievable,” Red Sox rookie Jhostynxon Garcia told reporters through an interpreter after the squirrel scurried towards him in the fourth inning, per the Associated Press.
The crowd went wild cheering on the critter, which made its way towards the third-base foul line before heading to the front of the mound where it met Yankees left-handed pitcher Max Fried.
“That’s the first time it’s happened to me,” Fried told reporters after his team suffered a 0-1 loss, per MLB.com. “My first reaction was, ‘Don’t do anything that might embarrass you.’ I thought it was just going to run around, but it came straight to me and went in the little hole I created on the mound.”
Fried stared at the squirrel and recalled telling it, “OK, buddy, let’s go.”
“He just did his thing. It’s definitely a little strange, but it’s all in good fun,” Fried added.
The squirrel then darted to first base, where Yankees first baseman Ben Rice stepped out of its way.
“I didn’t want to touch that thing,” Rice said. “The guys are giving me crap for it. ‘Why are you scared of a squirrel?’ I don’t know where that thing’s been. It made a little noise at me.”
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The game continued as the rodent tried to find a way off the field. It eventually made its escape through the scoreboard.
