Yankee Stadium fans were ejected for ripping the ball out of Mookie Betts' glove

NEW YORK (AP) — Two fans at Yankee Stadium were ejected from Game 4 of the World Series after one picked a foul ball out of the glove of Los Angeles Dodgers right fielder Mookie Betts on Tuesday night.

Betts jumped the wall in foul territory and initially caught Gleyber Torres' pop-up in the first inning, but a fan in the front row, Austin Capobianco, grabbed Betts' glove with both hands and pulled the ball out. Capobianco's friend John Peter then grabbed Betts' ungloved hand.

Betts reacted angrily and Torres was immediately taken to task for fan interference.

Capobianco, a Yankees season ticket holder, knew he was going to be in trouble, but decided to grab Betts' glove and unzip it anyway. He told ESPN that he and Peter often discuss this exact scenario: When a foul ball comes their way, they go do what they can to help their team.

“We always joke about the ball in our area,” Capobianco, 38, said after the game at a local bar. “We won’t bother attacking. If it’s in our area, we’ll go up ‘D’.”

“Someone defends, someone hits the ball. We talk about it. We are ready for this.”

Betts, visibly frustrated at the moment, played down the incident after the game.

“When it comes to the person in the game, it doesn’t matter,” Betts said. “We lost. That is irrelevant. I'm doing well. He's fine. Everything is cool. We lost the game and that’s kind of what I’m focused on. We have to turn the tide and prepare for tomorrow.”

The Dodgers had a two-run lead at that point thanks to Freddie Freeman's two-run home run, but the Dodgers were unable to complete a sweep and suffered an 11-4 loss to the Yankees.

“I’ve never seen anything like this,” Dodgers rookie pitcher Ben Casparius said. “It's pretty interesting. It was obviously very early in the game, so I think it kind of set the tone.”

Capobianco and Peter were escorted out of Yankees Stadium but said they were told they would be allowed back in for Game 5 on Wednesday. The Yankees did not immediately respond to ESPN's request for comment on whether this was indeed the case.

“I know when I'm in the wrong, and as soon as I did, I was like, 'Guys, I'm out of here,'” Capobianco told ESPN. “I patrol the wall and they know it.”

It was the second time in this World Series that Torres had a hit marred by fan interference. With two outs in the ninth inning of Game 1 at Dodger Stadium, Torres hit a fly ball to left field, and a fan reached out and caught the ball. Torres got a double.

Torres later hit a three-run home run to right field for New York's final runs.

Information from The Associated Press was included in this report.