Dodgers right fielder Mookie Betts makes a catch in foul territory as fans mingle during the first inning of Game 4 of the World Series on Tuesday night in New York. Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times

There’s fan interference and there’s foul trouble, and what happened to Los Angeles Dodgers’ Mookie Betts in the right field corner at Yankee Stadium in the first inning of Tuesday night’s 11-4 loss in Game 4 of the World Series s -could qualify. as an assault.

“I’ve never seen anything like this,” said Betts, frustrated by the Dodgers’ inability to complete a four-game sweep but happy to avoid a serious injury in the game. “But there’s always a first time for a premiere.”

Gleyber Torres led off the bottom of the first with a fly to right that went into foul territory. Betts, a six-time Gold Glove Award winner, jumped the high padded wall and made the catch between two Yankees fans, one wearing a gray road jersey and the other wearing a white striped jersey.

But as Betts tried to secure the ball, the fan in the road jersey — identified by The Athletic’s Brendan Kuty as Austin Capobianco, 38, of Connecticut — reached into Betts’ glove in an attempt to drop the ball .

The other fan, identified as John Peter by ESPN’s Jesse Rogers, then grabbed Betts’ pitching wrist and squeezed it so Betts couldn’t grab the ball, which bounced out of his glove and onto the warning track. earth. Right field umpire Mark Carlson immediately called fan interference, and Torres was ejected.

Capobianco and Rogers were ejected and escorted from their seats by stadium security, exchanging salutes and at least one hug with cheering fans as they walked down the aisle.

They told ESPN that stadium security told them they could return for Game 5 on Wednesday, but the team later issued a ban. Capobianco is a season holder who said he hopes he can keep his spot next season.

“Yeah, it looked ridiculous from my perspective,” Dodgers shortstop Tommy Edman said. “The guy was trying to rip his glove off, pulling on his wrist. … It looked like he got ejected and I’m glad he did. I’ve never seen anything like it. It was unacceptable.”

Betts played his first six years with the Boston Red Sox on the opposite side of one of baseball’s fiercest rivalries, so he’s used to being looked down upon in the Bronx.

But never in his 11 major league seasons has he seen fans take such aggressive action toward a player.

Although he was clearly upset with the fans after the game, he did not get sick when the game was over.

“It doesn’t matter, we lost, it’s irrelevant,” Betts said of the play. “I’m fine. (The fan) is fine. Everything’s cool. We lost the game and that’s what I’m focused on. We’ve got to turn the page and get ready” for Game 5.

Ben Casparius, who threw the first two innings of a bullpen game for the Dodgers on Tuesday night, allowing a run and a hit, walking and giving up one, grew up a Red Sox fan in Westport, Conn., and said he participated in 50 innings. -60 games at Yankee Stadium as a kid, always wearing Red Sox gear.

Was he surprised by what happened to Betts?

“No, not at all,” said Casparius. “I think it was an interesting moment with only a few pitches in the game. And obviously there’s a history with this team and (Mookie) playing for the Red Sox as long as he did. It was kind of like a ‘here we go’ moment from the beginning.”

The Dodgers had a “here we go again” moment in the top of the first when Betts doubled into the right-field corner with one out and Freddie Freeman lined a two-run homer into the right seats for a 2- 0. .

Freeman hit a two-run homer in the first inning of Monday night’s 4-2 Game 3 win.

But the Yankees scored once in the second, and shortstop Anthony Volpe crushed a misplaced runner from reliever Daniel Hudson into the left field seats for a two-out grand slam and a 5-2 lead.

The Dodgers scored twice in the fifth to cut the deficit to 5-4, but New York catcher Austin Wells blasted a solo homer into the second deck in right field in the sixth for a 6-4 lead.

The Yankees then broke the game open with a five-run eighth off Brent Honeywell, a rally that was highlighted by Torres’ three-run homer to right-center field.

Yankees slugger Aaron Judge ended the game with an RBI single to left after walking, being hit by a pitch, reaching on an error and fliing out to center in his first four plate appearances.

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