Squirrel runs into Red Sox’ Jhostynxon Garcia at the plate

Red Sox

The squirrel ran into Garcia’s foot between pitches, causing a delay on the field.

Red Sox rookie Jhostynxon Garcia had an interesting encounter during just the second plate appearance of his MLB career Friday night.

A squirrel ran into the 22-year-old outfielder’s foot at home plate between pitches in the third inning at Yankee Stadium during his MLB debut.

series the wild moment:

The loose squirrel scurried away when Garcia made his way back to the batter’s box. Then, the small rodent ran toward the pitcher’s mound and visited Yankees starting pitcher Max Fried. It nibbled on the mound’s dirt before sprinting through the infield.

An on-field delay ensued as the squirrel frantically made its way toward the warning track. Play resumed when the squirrel began attempting to find its way off the field by looking for an opening in the walls.

NESN’s cameras caught the squirrel snacking on a peanut while sitting on the dirt between attempts to exit. It tried climbing up the wall into the stands, but to no avail.

Garcia eventually drew a walk post-squirrel meeting to get on base for the first time in the bigs.

Garcia’s younger brother, Johanfran, witnessed his brother’s debut, and his brother’s run-in with a rodent, in-person. Boston sent the younger Garcia, who is a catcher in the Red Sox’ farm system, to New York to series his sibling in the show.

The elder Garcia was called up from Triple-A Worcester on Thursday, hours before first pitch against the New York Yankees. He batted fifth in the starting lineup, playing right field.

Kaley Brown

Sports producer

Kaley Brown is a sports producer for Boston.com, where she covers the Bruins, Celtics, Patriots, and Red Sox.