Fight Night at the Fens and Other Bizarre Occurrences - Jenn

Last night's final game against the Rays was anything but normal. Starting with the 2nd inning, it was a very bizarre night.

Before I get to last night's game, let me give a quick recap of what started it all. There was some bad blood between Coco and the Rays on Wednesday. In the 6th inning Bartlett blocked 2nd base with his knee, injuring Coco. Then in the 8th, Coco, determined to get payback, took out Iwamura on a late slide. After that, everyone knew Coco was marked. It was just a question of when. Well, the when was the bottom of the 2nd inning, when Coco came up to bat. The first pitch was a ball. The second pitch hit Coco in the leg. Okay, good, the Rays got their retaliation, now we can move on. If only. In case you missed it, here's what happened next:

What amazes me, is that Shields took his shot so early in the game. I mean, if you're going to hit a guy, do it toward the end of your outing. Or even wait 'til the next series. After all, everyone knows that revenge is a dish best served cold. But Shields, who by the way is one of the Rays best pitchers, decided to take Coco out in his first at bat. And you saw the result.

Obviously both Shields and Coco were ejected from the game. But so was Jonny Gomes. And although Carl Crawford and Akinori Iwamura remained in the game, don't expect to see them in the next few Rays outings. Here's a better view of what went down and why Gomes, Crawford and Iwamura will probably be suspended along with Shields and Crisp.

After the brawl, which took at least 15-20 minutes between trying to break it up and getting a new pitcher to the mound, things could've gone back to normal. But they didn't. There was another fight. But this one didn't take place on the field and it wasn't between opposing teams. This fight took place in the Sox dugout. But even weirder than that, was who it was between. Check it out:

That's just the end of the fight. What you didn't see was Manny taking a swing at Youk and then shoving him hard into a post. No one knows why the fight took place or what it was about because neither Manny nor Youk were willing to talk about it after the game. Only Francona could shed some light on the unexpected outburst. "I think they were just exchanging some views on things," the manager said. "We had a lot of testosterone going tonight. It was kind of a hectic night. Sometimes things happen and we'll handle it. In fact, it's been handled and we'll move on from that one. It really wasn't that big a deal."

I hope that's the case, because with the number of players the Sox are losing due to injury and suspension, they can't afford to be fighting each other. Then again, I guess I can understand it. When you spend 8 months of the year with the same group of people, and you're confined to a small area, people can get testy and fights break out. I'm sure there's the occasional argument between team mates. The only thing that makes this outburst different from the rest is that it was caught on tape.

But that wasn't the end of Fight Night at the Fens. Don and Remy, the NESN commentators were caught exchanging blows between innings, too.

This is why I pick NESN over any other channel showing the Sox games. Don and Remy. Even when tensions are high, they can still find the funny. It would've been great if their outburst were enough to lighten up the game. But unfortunately something happened in the 4th inning that sent waves of terror throughout Red Sox Nation. Ellsbury left the game hurt.

Ellsbury made one of his signature diving catches for the first out of the inning. Unfortunately he came up lame in the process.

Between Papi with his torn tendon sheath, Manny with his strained hamstring (which is why he's been DHing in Papi's absence), Coco being ejected and probably suspended for a game or two, and now Ellsbury with a right wrist strain, it's amazing the Sox have anyone left to play in the outfield. Thank God Ellsbury's listed as day to day, but I'm still waiting for the bad news. Even Francona said he'd have to be re-examined today. If Ellsbury returns to the clubhouse in pain, I have a feeling an MRI will be taken of that wrist. Until then, we'll just have to hope for the best.

What's amazing is that between all of the strange going ons, 9 innings of baseball were still played. And the Red Sox came out on top - of both the game and the American League East. The Sox now have a game and a half lead over the Rays and face the imploding Seattle Mariners today for the first of a three game series.

So ideally, by the time Monday rolls around the Sox will have a healthy lead in the east, Ellsbury will be back in the outfield, and the feud between the Rays and the Sox will be a distant memory. Hey, I can hope can't I?