The Yankees and Indians benches hit the field after after Indians’ Fausto Carmona hit Yankees’ Mark Teixeira with a pitch in the second inning last night. (AP)
When Yankees manager Joe Girardi and Indians manager Manny Acta were screaming at each other on the infield after Fausto Carmona drilled Mark Teixeira last night, Acta recounted the heated exchange.
“ ‘He did.’ ‘He didn’t.’ ‘He did.’ ‘He didn’t,’” Acta said. “Pretty much.”
The debate was over whether Carmona, the Indians’ erratic right-hander, purposely had plunked Teixeira on the first pitch after Curtis Granderson’s second-inning homer during the Yankees’ 11-7 win at the Stadium. The episode incited a benches-clearing near-brawl, with Acta and Girardi one spark from becoming the main event.
Carmona did not speak to the media after the game, and an Indians spokesman said the pitcher would speak today. Acta said he believed there was no intent behind the pitch.
Asked if he were surprised Girardi and Teixeira were that angry, Acta said Carmona — who does have the eighth-most hit-by-pitches (49) in baseball over his six-year career — had poor command last night.
“I have no comment. Actually I do. I can’t control what other people think,” said Acta, the former Mets third base coach. “But I really felt like the fact that the guy couldn’t throw strikes, I don’t think he hit him on purpose. But that’s what I think. I can’t control or care what [the Yankees] think.”
Acta said since he became Indians manager last year, he could not recall Carmona being as wild as he was last night.
“My goodness, the guy couldn’t throw 50 percent of his pitches for strikes,” Acta said, referring to Carmona’s 48 ball-45 strike ratio. “I didn’t think it was anything to it.”
Indians first baseman Matt LaPorta said, “It kind of came at a bad spot, obviously. Granderson hit the home run, and the next batter [got hit].”
LaPorta said he expects there’s a good chance of retaliation by the Yankees before the weekend is over.
“It wouldn’t surprise me,” he said.
mark.hale@nypost.com