Series remains heated between Orioles, Red Sox

BOSTON -- It only took until the second inning before a batter was hit by a pitch in Wednesday's game between the Baltimore Orioles and Boston Red Sox.

Orioles starting pitcher Kevin Gausman plunked Xander Bogaerts with a 76.6 mph curveball in the lower back near the belt. While it didn't appear intentional, home plate umpire Sam Holbrook ejected Gausman and warned both ballcubs.

This is a series that has dealt with racist slurs, accusations of head-hunting, one hit batter, a few brush-back pitches and an epic post-game rant that will very likely live in if not infamy then digital posterity.

And that was just two games into their four-game series at Fenway Park.

Add to that a player injured on a play at second base, a few more hit batters, even more attempts at hit batters, and some mutual tweaking by both managers, and it’s been an eventful start to the season for the American League East rivals. Considering they were just seven games into their 19-game season series,

MLB attempted to quell any further uprisings with a Wednesday afternoon conference call.

Commissioner Rob Manfred and chief baseball office Joe Torre hosted the call for Orioles executive vice president of baseball operations Dan Duquette and manager Buck Showalter and Red Sox president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski and manager John Farrell, with hope of getting all parties to play nice.

“Well, Major League Baseball obviously have seen the tensions that have escalated between these two clubs, as the rivalry has developed over the last couple years,” said Duquette. “They’ve seen some behaviors in the last couple series that they obviously would like to see stop.

“To our guys’ credit, our guys again, they’ve kept their eyes on the ball and they’ve been able to go about and do their job. The Orioles, we’re concerned about whenever anybody throws at a batter’s head they really have to be concerned about their livelihood. That’s just not acceptable in any circumstances. So I’m glad to see that the league sanctioned that when it happened during the series.

"To our credit, when we had an issue at second base a couple years ago, when (Red Sox third baseman Pablo) Sandoval ran into (Orioles second baseman) Jon Schoop and we lost Jon Schoop to the disabled list for six or seven weeks, our guys didn’t go head-hunting the best players on the Red Sox. We just don’t do that. That’s not how we play ball. That’s not the right way to pay ball. And Buck’s got command of his team and our guys have kept their poise through the series. So we’re going to continue to come in here, we’re going to play ball to win the game within the rules of the game. There’s really no excuse for throwing at a guy’s head.”

In the first inning Tuesday Red Sox left-hander Chris Sale threw a 97-mph pitch – the first of the at-bat and eighth of the game -- behind the legs of Manny Machado – just one batter after Adam Jones received a warm ovation following racist invective that was hurled at him in Monday’s game. The pitch was in retaliation for Machado’s slow home run trot on Monday, his slide into Dustin Pedroia in Baltimore, injuring the second baseman – or it was just an inside pitch that got away, as Farrell suggested after Tuesday’s game. All of which prompted Machado’s profanity-fueled verbal postgame bonfire.

Reports of an impending suspension for Sale were rife, but nothing definitive before the game.

“Well, I understand that Joe Torre says that it’s likely Sale will be suspended,” Duquette said. “So, we’ll see if Joe follows up on that and makes that stick.

“If he was intentionally throwing at our guy, I think he should be suspended, yeah.”

While Farrell had never been involved in this type of conference call before, Showalter had.

“Unfortunately, I have,” Showalter said. “Or maybe fortunately I have. Two ways to look at it. I think it’s more fortunately that I have.”

Showalter considered taking Machado out of Tuesday’s game after his first at-bat, to protect him from further 97-mph pitches that might get away – and because of what happened to Jones on Monday. After the inning-ending at-bat, Showalter pulled Machado into the tunnel behind the visitors’ dugout for a quick conversation to gauge his third baseman’s state of mind.

“On the field, I didn’t like that look,” Showalter said. “And I didn’t trust what was going on on the field by the other people that I can’t see or read their heart. Manny, I felt better than I did before I had the conversation with him that he wouldn’t let him win that as long as he wasn’t provoked again.”

Showalter said on Tuesday if he had known during Monday’s game what Jones had been subjected to – the verbal taunts as well as someone throwing a bag of peanuts at him – he would have pulled his team off the field.

Has the behavior gotten out of hand?

“You have two teams that are highly competitive,” Farrell said. “Two teams that support everyone on their club. This hasn’t been a one-incident type of situation... I think that’s pretty clear. But we’re looking forward to playing a good, hard brand of baseball. And we know that there are some pitches that have gotten away, from both sides, so that’s what’s precipitated the call today.”

Perhaps it’s the nature of playing in the ultra-competitive American League East. All five teams play in the Grapefruit League during spring training and – at times – familiarity can breed contempt. Which can sometimes manifest in emotional displays.

“I think that’s expected in your division,” Showalter said. “I think people, because they make such a huge deal of it, I don’t think you quite get sometimes where the player is coming from a lot with it. It’s a long season, and you have to pace yourself with some of that, too. But their tank is pretty full. I know what you mean, though. There’s so much familiarity playing in your division. This is already our second trip here, and there’s just so much familiarity with each other. You’re in the same spring training—the Yankees, Toronto, Tampa, Boston. You’re in the same leagues in the minor leagues, for the most part. You play each other 18, 20 times a year. There’s no secrets, and people care. Keep in mind, people care. What, do you want them not to care? I’m talking about fans, I’m talking about players, I’m talking about coaches. People care.”

Despite all of that, warning had not been issued prior to Wednesday’s game. Are they confident things have settled down?

“Yeah, very much so,” Farrell said.

“Well, we have a good rivalry going with the Red Sox,” Duquette said, “and we’re going to do everything we can to play a competitive game.”

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/2017/05/03/orioles-kevin-gausman-ejected-after-questionable-hit-batsman-series-remains-heated-red-sox/101263870/