There’s fan interference and malfeasance, and what happened to Dodgers star Mookie Betts in the right field corner of Yankee Stadium in the first inning of Tuesday night’s 11-4 World Series Game 4 loss to New York could be in could qualify as the latter. .

“I’ve never seen anything like it,” Betts said after the game, frustrated by the Dodgers’ inability to complete a four-game sweep against the Yankees but happy to have avoided a serious injury during the game . “But there’s always a first time for a first.”

Gleyber Torres opened the bottom of the first inning with a fly ball to right that ended up in foul territory. Betts, a six-time Gold Glove Award-winning outfielder, jumped onto the high padded wall in foul territory and made the catch between two Yankees fans, one wearing a gray road jersey and the other a white home pinstripe jersey.

But as Betts tried to secure the ball, the fan in the away jersey — identified by the Athletic’s Brendan Kuty as Austin Capobianco, 38, of Connecticut — stuck his hand in Betts’ glove in an attempt to pry the ball loose.

The other fan then grabbed the wrist of Betts’ throwing hand and yanked on it so the outfielder couldn’t get the ball, which squirted out of Betts’ glove and fell onto the dirt warning track. Right field umpire Mark Carlson immediately called fan interference, and Torres was ejected.

Capobianco and the other fan, who was not identified, were removed and escorted from their seats by stadium security, exchanging high-fives and at least one hug with applauding fans as they walked down the aisle.

Read more: Dodgers can’t complete the sweep as Yankees come off the mat in Game 4 to keep the season alive

“Yeah, that looked ridiculous from my perspective,” Dodgers shortstop Tommy Edman said. “The man tried to take off his glove and pulled his wrist. … It looked like he got ejected, and I’m glad he did. I’ve never seen anything like it. That was unacceptable.”

Betts spent the first six years of his big league career with the Boston Red Sox, on the other side of one of baseball’s fiercest rivalries, so he’s used to being the object of scorn in the Bronx. But never in his eleven seasons in the big league has he seen fans take such aggressive actions against a player.

Although he was clearly angry with the fans after the match, he did not harbor any ill will towards them after the match.

“It doesn’t matter, we lost, it’s not relevant,” Betts said of the play. “I’m doing well. (The fan) is fine. Everything is cool. We lost the game and that’s what I’m focusing on. We have to turn the page and get ready for Game 5 on Wednesday.

Dodgers reliever Ben Casparius, who pitched the first two innings of a bullpen game Tuesday night, allowing one run and one hit, walking three and striking out one, grew up a Red Sox fan in Westport, Conn., and said that he attended some As a kid, he played 50-60 games at Yankee Stadium, always in his Red Sox gear.

Was the right-hander surprised by what happened to Betts?

“No, not at all,” said Casparius. “I think it was an interesting moment, just a few throws into the game. And obviously there’s a history with this team and (Mookie) playing for the Red Sox for as long as he did. It was kind of a ‘here we go’ moment early on.”

The Dodgers had a “here we go again” moment in the top of the first inning when Betts doubled into the right field corner with one out and Freddie Freeman hit a two-run home run into the right field seats for a 2-0 lead. . It was deja vu for Freeman, who hit a two-run homer in the first inning of Monday night’s 4-2 Game 3 victory.

Read more: Plaschke: No problem. Dodgers kick off Game 4, but they are still in control against the Yankees

But the Yankees scored once in the second, and shortstop Anthony Volpe crushed an ill-placed slider on Dodgers reliever Daniel Hudson’s first pitch to the left-field seats for a grand slam with two outs and a 5-2 lead.

The Dodgers scored twice in the top of the fifth to cut the deficit to 5-4, but New York catcher Austin Wells blasted a solo homer into the second deck of right field in the sixth for a 6-4 lead.

The Yankees then blew the game open with a five-run eighth off Dodgers right-hander Brent Honeywell, a rally highlighted by Torres’ three-run homer to right-center.

Struggling Yankees slugger Aaron Judge capped the rally with an RBI single to left after walking, being hit by a pitch, reaching base on an error and flying to center field in his first four at-bats.

“They’re going to fight,” Betts said of the Yankees. “If you’ve come this far, you have resilience in you. You’re going to fight all the time. We expected that. Obviously we didn’t play well today, and they did. That’s why they won.

“We are now three games to one. We have a good feeling about it. But no lead is safe until you win the fourth game.”

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This story originally appeared in the Los Angeles Times.