An old AL East rivalry was reheated Friday night as the benches cleared between the Yankees and Orioles in the bottom of the ninth.

Yankees closer Clay Holmes hit Heston Kjerstad in the head with a 96.8 mph sinker, which didn't do much sinking, on an 0-2 pitch in the bottom of the ninth inning.

Kjerstad was quickly tended to by trainers and his manager, Brandon Hyde, but, given the frightening situation, Hyde was red-hot and had some words with Holmes and catcher Austin Wells.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM

Third baseman Oswaldo Cabrera and an umpire held Holmes back before anything could happen, but only temporarily.

After Kjerstad reached first (he was pinch-ran for), Hyde walked back toward the field and was yelling in the direction of the Yankees dugout — it appeared he was yelling at third base coach Luis Rojas, who was snapping right back.

Wells did his best to hold Hyde back, but he couldn't do much, as both teams met right near home plate, and the bullpens came sprinting from the outfield.

There was some light pushing and shoving that ensued, but no player was ejected (other than Hyde), and no punches were thrown — so, it wasn't quite their brawl from 1998.

COMEDIAN NIKKI GLASER POKES FUN AT SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER'S ARREST, SHOHEI OHTANI'S INTERPRETER AT ESPYS

Yankees manager Aaron Boone said he understood why Hyde was upset, noting that Hyde should have his players' backs — Hyde, though, said the Yankees bench was "waving" and "yelling" at him, which he "didn't appreciate."

Hyde said he "heard some stuff" when he was walking back to the dugout, which led to his reaction.

He added Hjerstad was getting tested. "We're hoping for the best," he said.

This has been brewing for quite a bit, though — the Yankees have hit Orioles batters 10 times this season, while the O's have done so just three times.

The Yankees, who own MLB's worst record since June 13, held on to the much-needed 4-1 win, cutting their deficit for the division lead to just two games — the O's are now 3-5 against the Yanks this season.

Reigning Cy Young Award winner Gerrit Cole had his best start of this season as he tossed six strong innings of one-run, five-hit, seven-strikeout ball.

The division race seems to be between these two teams for the rest of the season, and judging by Friday night, it's going to be fun the rest of the way.

They'll be back in action at 4 p.m. on Saturday.

Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.

Fox News host Sean Hannity reacts to concern over President Biden’s re-election bid as Americans question the state of his health on "Hannity." 

SEAN HANNITY: Tonight, the state-run media mob, they're in shambles. The Democratic Party is in complete disarray, but the writing is on the wall. Joe Biden, he's running for president. He will still be running for president tomorrow and the day after and the day after that, all the way it looks like, to Election Day, at least for now.  

CNN HOST SLAMS WISCONSIN RADIO SHOW FOR EDITING BIDEN POST-DEBATE INTERVIEW: ‘H--- NO!’ 

Now, you ever heard the phrase "play stupid games, win stupid prizes?" Well, Democrats, here is your prize. Joe Biden is your nominee. The people, they voted for him, he's not dropping out and frankly, to his credit, he is standing up for voters, the people that went to the polls. He was nominated by an overwhelming majority of Democrats nationwide. 

Now, of course, this happened as the state-run media mob and Democratic elites, they have now, for over four years, have been covering up what is very transparent, clear and obvious and that is Joe Biden is in clear mental, cognitive decline. They have lied repeatedly about his ability to serve and they have been hiding him away from all of you and the spotlight as much as possible