Apr 9, 2024; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; A general view of Houston Astros second base Jose Altuve (27) hat on the field during batting practice prior to a game against the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium. Denny Medley-Imagn Images

Benches Clear After Astros Pitcher Balks Red Sox Runner For Potential Sign Stealing

Originally posted on Houston Astros on SI
By Dylan Sanders | Last updated Aug 2, 2025 8:21 PM ET

The Houston Astros and Boston Red Sox had a dust up on Saturday afternoon after an argument between a pitcher and a third base coach caused the benches to clear.

In the bottom of the seventh inning, two outs and a runner on second base, Astros reliever Hector Neris suspected that Red Sox shortstop Trevor Story was relaying pitch information to the batter.

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Neris then intentionally balked Story over to third base and was able to get the out. While walking off the field, the Houston pitcher had some words for Boston third base coach Kyle Hudson.

An umpire stopped Neris from walking any closer to the Red Sox coach and benches cleared soon after. It didn't go much further than words being exchanged, but it was still a tense moment in a game that Boston had a handle on, up 7-3.

Benches clear in Boston after Hector Neris intentionally balked Trevor Story to third base because he thought Story was relaying signs. Neris had words for the Red Sox third base coach coming off the field pic.twitter.com/MxWccFu7F9
— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) August 2, 2025

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What Neris was mad about was one of the oldest forms of "sign stealing" and one that is not going to cause any major repercussions or anything like that.

With the runner on second base, he was able to see the grip that Neris had on the ball and then turn around and then relay that information to the batter. It is more of violation to the written rules than an actual rule break. Still, Neris took it to heart.

The immediate reaction of many in this situation was to bring up the sign-stealing scandal in which the Astros were involved. Even the Red Sox broadcast brought it up by saying, "Imagine [Houston] being mad about stealing signs."

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Boston was also involved in a similar scandal themselves during the 2018 World Series run. Their manager, Alex Cora, and star third baseman Alex Bregman were a part of that 2017 Houston team that got in trouble.

All in all, it was a moment that seemed to have gone too far on all sides.

Neris himself was likely more frustrated than he would have generally been as it was a rough outing that adds on to a season to forget for him.

He pitched one inning, giving up two hits and an earned run. His ERA on the season is now up to 6.00.

The Astros are his third team of the season, having been let go by both the Atlanta Braves and Los Angeles Angels earlier in the year.

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Houston and the Red Sox will meet again at 10:35 AM CT for the last game of the series, which Boston took a 2-0 lead on after Saturday.

For more Astros news, head over to Astros On SI.

This article first appeared on Houston Astros on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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