Well. That was certainly an interesting game, to say the least. We won, 7-1, completing a three-game sweep of the Rays to put us further in first place. Jon Lester pitched an absolute gem through just over six innings, allowing one run on eight hits, striking out five, and walking none. The two relievers, Timlin and Aardsma, combined to allow one hit and issue four strikeouts and three walks. Our pitching is solid, and our bullpen has obviously settled down. To win with a six-run lead, we used just three pitchers to Tampa Bay’s six.
Besides great pitching, last night’s game featured some lively offense (Ramirez crushed a three-run shot), some fancy footwork (a stolen base by Lugo), and some injuries (Ellsbury, after spraining his right wrist, is listed as day-to-day, and Ramirez left the game with a sore hamstring).
Oh, and one other thing. A bench-clearing brawl. Apparently, Rays pitcher James Shields was annoyed that Crisp executed an aggressive slide into second base the night before. So, Shields decided to hit him with a pitch. (Commendably, he didn’t pitch at Crisp’s head. He hit him in the thigh instead.) Crisp charged the mound, Shields tried to hit but missed, Crisp tried to hit but basically missed, and Crisp was then tackled by Navarro, Gomes, and Crawford, the latter two of whom executed shots at Crisp that were decidedly and obviously cheap.
Because Crisp had been thrown out, Tito had to put Youkilis in right field. Kevin Youkilis. First baseman. In right field.
As if that wasn’t enough, Youk and Manny started getting into it in the dugout in the fourth inning. But this isn’t something that concerns me. Teammates constantly interact in close quarters. They’re like brothers, and brothers fight. Dustin Pedroia said it best:
We’re around each other a lot, but we love each other. We’re a team. We’ll be fine.
And I completely agree. This is not a faint-hearted team we have here. This is Boston. These are the defending champion dirt dogs. And the clubhouse is designed to weather tensions like this. Why do you think this team, with its share of “rockstars” and big personalities, is succeeding? Because the chemistry is and has always been there. Not something to worry about, folks. It happens.
As for the brawl at large, that happens, too. Happens across the league all the time. In the sixth inning on Wednesday, Crisp stole second and injured his left thumb on the slide when it collided with Jason Bartlett’s knee. In the eighth, Crisp tried to steal second again and jostled Akinori Iwamura with his forearm. He was caught stealing. Joe Madden made a pitching change and shouted at Crisp. Crisp shouted back. Apparently, their business was unfinished.
Brawls will occur in baseball. And exchanges between teammates will occur in baseball. It happens in every other sport. Watch a football training camp session or a preseason hockey practice and just try to get through it without seeing a fight. It’s impossible. Youk and Ramirez have a great relationship. They even trained together in Arizona in the offseason.
The moral of the story? Brawls between teams and teammates will occur, and if they occur to any team, they’ll occur to the Red Sox. Being a dirt dog and getting your uniform dirty also involves answering challenges, both inside and outside the clubhouse. If there’s anything to worry about, it’s the injury situation. And I wouldn’t even worry about that, because we’ve got Casey and Cora and Cash, not to mention A-grade minor leaguers on whom you can depend to bring their A-game (because they’re talented ballplayers and they’ll want to prove their abilities at the Major League level). And many of these minor leaguers have played with us before.
I’ve never seen a team as deep and as prepared to confront baseball’s worst disasters as this Red Sox team. We have Theo Epstein to thank for that, and this is just another example of the man’s insight and genius. We’ve got a solution to every problem, a qualified backup for every position, an answering run to every opposing run scored. The proof is in the 2006 crash and burn. We finished the ‘06 season in third because we were injury-ridden without the depth of the ‘08 roster. If any roster can come out of this situation unscathed, it’s Boston’s. Believe that.
