BOSTON — Jacoby Ellsbury waited until after the game to throw punches.
Red Sox reliever Edward Mujica plunked Ellsbury on the backside in the eighth inning of Sunday’s game at Fenway Park. It seemed like retaliation for Yankees starter Adam Warren drilling Hanley Ramirez in the sixth inning, and Ellsbury took some shots at his former team following New York’s 8-5 win.
“Maybe they didn’t want me to get another hit,” quipped Ellsbury, who reached base a career-high six times and tied a career-high with four knocks.
Sunday’s on-field feud started when Ramirez took exception to being hit by Warren. The visibly frustrated slugger stared out toward the mound, ripped his hand away from Yankees catcher Brian McCann and flung his bat toward the Red Sox’s on-deck circle while walking to first base.
“We’re definitely (not) trying to throw at Hanley,” Ellsbury said. “I don’t know why he got all riled up in the first place.”
Mujica responded by hitting Ellsbury on the butt cheek in the eighth, prompting home plate umpire Jeff Nelson to warn both benches. Red Sox manager John Farrell chalked up the two beanings as unintentional and the product of pitchers throwing inside, but Yankees skipper Joe Girardi was a bit skeptical, calling Mujica’s 3-0 pitch that hit Ellsbury “fishy.”
Ellsbury never really ripped Mujica or the Red Sox directly after the game, but the high-priced Yankees outfielder certainly took some not-so-subtle jabs.
“I don’t need to get thrown out. I don’t need to miss any games. I realize my importance to my team,” Ellsbury said. “It didn’t hurt anyway. … I didn’t even feel it. He’s just lucky I didn’t steal two bases off him.”
Ellsbury was far less animated than Ramirez after being struck by Mujica. He took his base without conflict, though it looked like he shot a rather menacing glance toward the Boston right-hander.
“I wasn’t really looking at him,” Ellsbury said. “I know I glanced over his way and stood there for a second. I wasn’t really worried about what he had to say. I didn’t say anything. I just took my base.
“If I were 0-fer, I don’t think they’d throw at me. There was just no need for it. I was happy about it. I really wanted to score the time I got hit. I was hoping they would give me something to hit in my last at-bat. I got walked on four straight pitches.”
Ellsbury, who signed a seven-year, $153 million contract with the Yankees before the 2014 campaign, spent seven seasons on the other side of the rivalry, so he obviously knows how heated things can be when the teams hook up, even in May.
It’s rare Ellsbury is outspoken, though, so his feathers must have really been ruffled.
Thumbnail photo via Bob DeChiara/USA TODAY Sports Images
