good, bad, and ugly?

Tempers flare as Red Sox sweep Rays
Crisp ejected; Ellsbury and Ramirez exit early with injuries
By Mark Remme / MLB.com

BOSTON -- Center fielder Coco Crisp started a heated exchange between Boston and Tampa Bay on Wednesday by intentionally sliding hard into Rays second baseman Akinori Iwamura.
On Thursday, Tampa Bay starter James Shields ended it with a pitch that grazed Crisp in his first at-bat. That ignited a benches-clearing fracas that led to the ejections of Crisp, Shields and Rays designated hitter Jonny Gomes from a game the Red Sox would go on to win, 7-1.

Despite the hot tempers, the Red Sox executed on the field just as they did during the first two wins in the series and completed the three-game sweep. The victory pushed Boston's division lead to 1 1/2 games.

"Anyone find a full moon tonight? Crazy stuff going on, just a crazy night at the park," first baseman Sean Casey said. "It happens sometimes."

"It was huge; now we're in first place," second baseman Dustin Pedroia said. "It was a big, big series win for us. We've just got to keep going. There are a lot of games left, and we've just got to keep doing our thing."

Emotions certainly were expressed throughout the contest, with Manny Ramirez and Kevin Youkilis exchanging words in the dugout following the bottom of the fourth. The two were separated by teammates before Youkilis took his position on the field and Ramirez walked toward the back hallway of the dugout. Manager Terry Francona said that the exchange was the product of having "a lot of testosterone going."

Still, it was Ramirez who ignited the Boston offense early in the contest, belting his first home run at Fenway since April 19. He followed that three-run shot with a two-out, bases-loaded single in the fourth that brought in two more runs. He finished 2-for-3 with five RBIs.

"We had to have some timely hitting," catcher Jason Varitek said. "Manny hits a big three-run homer right away against a guy [Shields] who has been throwing the ball pretty well."

Ramirez's production gave starter Jon Lester more than enough support. Lester was touched up for just one run on eight scattered hits and recorded his first victory since his no-hitter on May 19.

Lester didn't walk a batter and struck out five, but he did hit two Rays in the outing. But in a game like Thursday's, exchanging hit batsmen was to be expected. Tampa Bay pitchers combined to hit three Red Sox batters, including Crisp, leading to the melee.

It was just one interesting dynamic that took place on an anything but ordinary night at Fenway.

Still, Lester remained poised throughout the stoppages in play and managed to stifle a difficult Rays lineup by mixing spots inside and outside the plate and regulating his offspeed pitches.

"It's a tough lineup, because they're so aggressive -- they swing the bat and they go after a lot of stuff," Lester said. "You try not to go away from your game plan and keep going after guys."

But the victory didn't come without a price. Already unable to perform roster moves with regular designated hitter David Ortiz on the disabled list and Ramirez taking over DH duties because of a hurting right hamstring, the Sox were already shorthanded in the outfield.

Crisp's ejection didn't help, and two innings later, Jacoby Ellsbury injured his right wrist making a diving catch. The Sox used three center fielders in the game -- Ellsbury replaced Crisp after his ejection, then J.D. Drew moved from right to center after Ellsbury exited -- and were forced to use first baseman Youkilis in right to finish the game. Youkilis had originally been given the night off to allow Casey to see playing time.

Ramirez, too, exited early, lifted for a pinch-runner in the eighth inning after an at-bat in which the hamstring appeared to bother him again. He walked during the plate appearance.

Crisp's replacement in the batting order -- recent Triple-A Pawtucket callup Chris Carter, who entered the game in the second in left field -- was the lone bright spot resulting from the outfield's proverbial game of musical chairs. In his Major League debut, Carter recorded two singles in his first two at-bats.

Carter was told by Francona after the contest that he'd be optioned back to the PawSox, making room for Brandon Moss to rejoin the team and fill a spot on Boston's radically changing outfield depth chart.

But that didn't take away from Carter's successful, yet unconventional, debut in the big leagues.

"All of a sudden, I was put in," Carter said. "I just had the adrenaline going. I was just thinking about beating the Rays. It was absolutely incredible. It was a rush."

Lost in all the distractions is what ultimately matters: Boston extended its division lead and will move on to face Seattle on Friday. Lester said that's the main objective, and it's something the team hasn't lost sight of.

"It feels good to go out there and, you know, we really don't worry about the standings," Lester said. "We just try and go out and win, and that's what we did tonight."

Mark Remme is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

omg I watched part of this game... insane!

nothing like Coco goin' postal! Wish SOMEBODY could've been MANLY about this and just put a stop to it!

haha Coco went totally nuts! I had seen the game the night before so I kinda knew why but holy crap! I have seen many bench clearing brawls before but I never actually seen so many punches get thrown. Insane! I have a feeling there will be more than a few suspensions and fines coming out of this.

for street gangs, go further down the road! This is a ballpark, for heaven's sake! Not to mention all the kids that DIDN'T need to see that................

I know I was waiting for the Fenway crowd to start losing it's mind and getting in to it. During the whole thing I kept thinking "Where is Casey!!"

I felt like I was watching a hockey game

Gawd, I hate baseball brawls. If I want the fights, I'll watch the VS channel with my hubby!

I rather like the fights in the MLB. Coco shoulda ran out there. It was pretty cool. I saw it on youtube.

Coco should not run out there if he wants to play the next few games!

I'm sorry but I can't help but laugh every time I see a baseball brawl. To me it looked like it was the Rays that was pounding on everyone and the Red Sox were trying to pull everyone off. You could see Sean trying to pull everyone off of each other, and Jacoby () he was trying to break it up too.

Hmm... second brawl in baseball in a week, not too good.

EDIT: Looking at it again it looked like Navarro (sp?) either tackled his to save him from getting hit by everyone (because of the way he just layed on top of his shielding him from everyone) or he held him down so the guys could get some cheap shots in.

You could tell that Shields tried to hit him with that first pitch too.

missed seeing Sean! he's the eternal diplomat for sure!

WTF?!? Sean got suspended for 3 games!

Suspensions handed down after fracas
Five Rays, three Red Sox players disciplined by MLB
By Bill Chastain / MLB.com

Red Sox Headlines

•ARLINGTON -- Suspensions stemming from Thursday night's incident between the Rays and Red Sox at Fenway Park were handed down by Major League Baseball on Friday afternoon.
Eight players were suspended a total of 38 games in the aftermath of the incident that took place in the bottom of the second inning.

For the Rays, James Shields received six games; Jonny Gomes, five; Edwin Jackson, five; Carl Crawford, four; and Akinori Iwamura, three.

And for the Red Sox, Coco Crisp received seven; Jon Lester, five; and Sean Casey, three.
Each of the players were also fined undisclosed amounts.

Unless appealed, the suspensions will be scheduled to begin on the following days:

• Friday: Crisp and Lester; Shields and Gomes
• Wednesday: Crawford
• June 13: Jackson
• June 14: Casey
• June 17: Iwamura

If appealed, the suspensions will be held in abeyance until the process is complete.

Bill Chastain is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

Wasn't Sean trying to stop stuff?

laprimamirala wrote:

Wasn't Sean trying to stop stuff?

Yeah, but it looked like when he ran into the pile he punched someone (it looked more like and accident) but it looked like he punched one of the Sox.

ba ba ba ba ba im lovin it

hopefully the thought of fines and suspensions keep our guys from losin' it....

I hope the Tigers get involved in a big brawl


That would be cool

Maybe fire this lethagic team up!

maybe!

gs78 wrote:

I hope the Tigers get involved in a big brawl


That would be cool

I agree! I'd love to see Miggy use his fat ass to level one of the W. Sox!

Still didnt see Casey do anything. But whatever. I think Gomes should be suspended longest cuz he got more punches in than anyone...