A BRAWL, AN INJURY, A MANNY/YOUK FIGHT, A SWEEP...Red Sox 7 Rays 1

Oh, what an eventful night at Fenway Park in Boston Thursday night. The bad blood between the Tampa Bay Rays and the Boston Red Sox spilled over into a violent confrontation between the two rivals near the beginning of what would be a Red Sox victory and sweep. Coco Crisp was hit by Rays pitcher James Shields, who is a complete a**hole, and he promptly charged the mound, setting off an ugly brawl in which somebody could have gotten really hurt. Shields said he was just protecting his team by hitting Coco in the leg, an obvious retaliation from the night before. Crisp had this to say...

"People were scratching like we're little girls, trying to scratch out my eyes," said Crisp, sporting several scratches around his eyes. "People were trying to pull my hair like little girls instead of punches. The fight is pretty much over, baseballwise. You want to come in late and get your little blows in, that's cool. It's all good, try to pull some hair.
"I'm not angry at anybody. There were some cheap shots in there. I'm down at the bottom, so I'm expecting something. Crawford sliding in, that was a little...I don't know."

Peter here. And what Coco meant was NOT a compliment to Crawford. It was ugly to watch on TV. For too long, Coco was the only Sox player out there, down at the bottom of a pile of kicking, punching and furious Tampa Bay guys. But then the benches and bullpens emptied and all hell broke loose. Hell in the heavenly Fenway Park. I'm just glad no one was hurt, but I didn't have to wait long for THAT to happen.

It was in the top of the fourth when Jacoby Ellsbury, who was moved to center to take the place of the ejected Crisp, ranged to his left to make a beautiful shoestring catch of a fly ball, but in doing so his wrist was bent backwards to an unnatural degree. It was painful to watch, but thank goodness, XRAYs were negative and he is listed as "day-to-day." But the theatrics weren't over yet...not by a long shot. We move to the bottom of that inning, mere seconds after Manny stroked a two-run single for his fourth and fifth runs batted in. He and Youk, for SOME UNKNOWN REASON, had a heated exchange in the Sox dugout. They had to be restrained by teammates. Multiple players were needed to hold back the enraged Ramirez. I know that emotions were running high and Youk might have said something to Manny that would usually NOT set him off, but he was definitely pissed. I hope all is well and the danders that were fluffed and flying high are now smooth and unruffled. This is exactly what Boston does NOT need, and it's a sure bet that Coco will serve some kind of suspension, as will a few Rays.

All this overshadowed a wonderful performance by Jon Lester, whose record moved to 4-3 after his 6 1/3 inning one run outing. He was great, just the way we need him for the rest of the year (fingers crossed). The bullpen's Timlin (1 2/3 inn.) and the dependable Aardsma (1 inn.) were impeccable, and the good guys completed their sweep of the upstart and still mad Rays. I say this..."F" them. Maybe that should have been the title of this post, but I write for Red Sox fans of ALL ages, so I watch what I say. I said all "those" words while watching the game last night, anyways.

Click on the title for the Boston Herald Red Sox homepage. You'll find all the good and bad details of the wild and crazy Thursday night at that misty, somewhat familiar place we call.......the Twilight Zone...err, Fenway Park. BE WELL, and Jacoby, we NEED you. Heal. Thanks, my Constant Readers, and have a great Friday. If you live in the northeast, get ready for a heat wave!