It's a tense time of year for the Boston Red Sox and the Baltimore Orioles , with both teams battling for playoff position and potentially to even make the playoffs. So, maybe it shouldn't be a surprise that tensions boiled over on Friday night with a benches clearing incident.
Blaze Alexander of the Orioles slid into second on a double play in the eighth inning. It wasn't a particularly hard or dirty slide, but he had words with Nick Sogard of the Red Sox anyway. Benches would clear over the seemingly minor incident, and no real fighting was to be had.
Still, Alexander seemed proud of himself. He even took the time to try and hype up the crowd following the incident, looking for a spark wherever he could amid a 1-0 loss. The Red Sox took note of that move.
It turns out, the Red Sox noticed Blaze Alexander trying to get Baltimore fans going after he cleared the benches. They didn't like it either, so Isiah Kiner-Falefa taunted him during the game on Saturday.
On second base, Kiner-Falefa made a point of showing off that he was trying to get the crowd going. It was a mimic of how Alexander acted the game before, and he wasn't going to shy away from that after the game.
"You know what it was," Kiner-Falefa said postgame, when asked about the celebration. "I think everybody knows what it was. Just trying to pump the crowd up. So, it felt good to pump the crowd up for something good happening, not a double play… Fired us up. Got us going, and we're trying to get the sweep. Means a lot to us."
The Red Sox would go on to win 5-0. It was a second-straight shutout for Boston over Baltimore, and their third win of a four-game series. As Kiner-Falefa mentioned, they'll go for a massive sweep on Sunday at 1:35 p.m. EST.
Kiner-Falefa himself missed the major run of success for Boston this summer with a forearm injury. So, being able to get back and contribute is, in and of itself, plenty meaningful to him, too.
The moment on second base with Isiah Kiner-Falefa wasn't the only time the Red Sox invoked the incident on Friday. Starting pitcher Sonny Gray also mentioned after the game how it made them want to "bury" the Orioles.
"We wanted to bury those guys," Gray said . "Especially after what that dude was trying to do last night. So, yeah."
Gray himself absolutely buried the Orioles. He threw 7.0 innings, allowing just 3 hits and 3 walks while striking out 7 batters. The bullpen came in and held on to the shutout. Blaze Alexander, meanwhile, was 0-4 on the day.
The Red Sox are probably not going to win the division. They're probably not going to be able to pass the New York Yankees for the top Wild Card spot either, especially after blowing an opportunity to do so last weekend in the Bronx. Still, the next few weeks will give them a chance to battle for position and ride momentum into the playoffs, especially if they keep bringing this energy.
Meanwhile, the Orioles have lost five in a row, slipping five games below .500 in the process. Frustration has to be setting in.
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