Let's be honest, baseball for the most part is a pretty boring sport. Sure there are thrilling moments (usually found in the playoffs) but 162 regular season games are filled with dull inning after dull inning. I love baseball but when you watch it after seeing football or basketball, it pales in comparison for excitement per minute.
Once in a while however, the stars align in a normal regular season game and a bunch of wacky things happen all at once. Last night's 7-1 Red Sox win over the Tampa Bay Rays at Fenway was one of those occasions. There was a brawl between the two teams, fighting between teammates in a dugout, a guy had five RBIs and another player got hurt making a diving catch.
You wish that some of last night could be bottled up and spread over the next few months as there will be countless snoozefests in the dog days of summer but I digress.
Boston (38-25) quickly led 3-0 in the bottom of the first after Manny Ramirez crushed a three-run bomb over everything in left.
Jonny Gomes' RBI single in the second made it 3-1 Red Sox before things got heated.
It all started in the bottom of the second when Rays (35-25) starter James Shields (4-4) hit Coco Crisp on the leg. It was retaliation from Crisp taking out Akinuri Iwamura with a dirty slide the night before. Coco took exception and ran at Shields. Coco ducked a Shields haymaker and only partially landed a shot of his own before getting tackled by Dioner Navarro. Gomes and Carl Crawford proceeded to take cheap shots at Crisp while he was pinned on the ground.
Seeing some emotion out of Crisp was a good thing. Besides highlight reel catches, the guy has been a real disappointment in Boston. Maybe, this will get him going this year. As far as baseball fights go, this was a solid one. Lots of people involved and some punches thrown, not the usual stand around and look tough showdowns.
Coco, Shields and Gomes were all ejected from the game. Dustin Pedroia made it 4-1 Boston later in the inning with a sacrifice fly that scored rookie Chris Carter.
Manny put it away with a two-run single in the fourth, following a J.D. Drew bases-loaded walk.
A strange scene in the bottom of the fourth when Manny and Kevin Youkilis started pushing each other in the dugout. Apparently, Youk took exception to Manny not getting out there faster during the fight. The team tried to play it down after the game but only time will tell if it's an issue moving forward.
As much coverage as the fighting received the bigger news for the Sox is the health of Jacoby Ellsbury. He made a great diving catch but twisted his wrist awkwardly. X-Rays were negative but Boston will be extremely cautious with its new golden boy.
Lester (4-3) picked up the win, his first at Fenway since the no-hitter. He went 6.1 innings, giving up one run on eight hits with five strikeouts.
The hyped matchup of Tampa Bay and Boston failed to live up the hype as the Sox once again swept the Rays at Fenway. The Red Sox have now won 13 in a row at home and they have the pathetic Seattle Mariners stumbling into town tonight.
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