David Ortiz, Kevin Gregg Both Ejected During Bench-Clearing Brawl at Fenway Park

by Mike Cole on Fri, Jul 8, 2011 at 10:12PM

It was just a matter of time. After two nights of the Orioles taking their lumps courtesy of the Red Sox, you just had to think the O's would fight back at some point.

Well, they chose the eighth inning in Friday night's game at Fenway Park, when Baltimore reliever Kevin Gregg decided to go inside on David Ortiz. Gregg went in on three consecutive pitches, the third of which caused Ortiz to take a few steps toward the mound.

On the next pitch, Ortiz took a hellacious cut on a 3-0 pitch. The slugger popped out to center field, but Gregg appeared to be motioning and yelling at Ortiz to get into the dugout. That, of course, only made the situation worse.

Ortiz charged Gregg and the two delivered a couple of punches. Neither seemed to land anything worthwhile, but Ortiz just missed on a big-time left-handed uppercut.

Red Sox catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Orioles pitcher Jim Johnson were also ejected for their roles during the donnybrook.