An interesting blowout game, to say the least. It's hard to keep a game interesting after the home team scores 8 in the bottom of the first, but this one managed. First, it was a race against the weather, as the skies looked like they'd open up at any time. With a lead like that, you hope the batters swing at the first pitch and get the fifth over with quickly, so that it's an official game. But then the rains never really came.
But the thunder and lightning did, in the 8th inning, when Gregg threw three straight pitches up and in on Ortiz. At first, being there in person, it looked like he was just pitching up and in--and I missed the first pitch or two. Don't know why. Couldn't tell you. Anyway, after watching the 2-hour edited game today, it is clear that he was being thrown at--three times!!!--and that Gregg told him to run down to first after he popped up and strolled to the bag. Halfway there, he did what Gregg told him to do--he ran.
At Gregg. They exchanged punches, they both missed, they both got ejected. With Salty and a Baltimore reliever and God knows who else. Why Showalter wasn't also tossed is beyond me, and he further slowed the game down by appearing about ten different times on the field to talk to an umpire. (This annoyed the NESN commentators as well.)
And then Josh Reddick, who had hit a triple to drive in the last run before Ortiz came to the plate, gets called out at third for abandoning the base, which he did when Ortiz charged the mound. Never seen that before, and I've seen my share of brawls. Possibly it's a rule that's never been enforced before? So a new pitcher came in to replace Gregg, who'd been ejected, and I guess he either threw over to first, or the umpires figured out before he finished warming up that Reddick was automatically out for "abandoning the base." And I guess the new reliever gets credit for his 1/3 of an inning? Weird game.
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