Red Sox Report 7/18/11

Monday, July 18, 2011

Scott Cordischi, GoLocalProv Sports Editor

The Red Sox and Orioles renew acquaintances tonight in Baltimore just over a week after their heated 3-game series at Fenway which produced everything from hit batsmen, a bench-clearing incident and numerous suspensions.

So the obvious question heading into tonight’s series opener is: will the bad blood between these two teams carry over from that Fenway series and will it result in more incidents?

The answer to the first part of that question is: yes! There is no love lost between these two teams and that won’t change anytime soon.

Most of the bad blood between the two clubs comes from Orioles’ manager Buck Showalter who will whine to anyone who will listen about Boston’s high payroll.

But if you’re expecting another bench clearing brawl between these two teams in this series, you might be disappointed.

While both David Ortiz and Kevin Gregg appealed their 4-game suspensions, they are expected to hear from Major League baseball before tonight’s opener. And even if each were to have their suspension reduced to 3 games, that would mean they would both be out for the entire series.

The reason Major League Baseball will likely hand down the ruling on their appeals on Monday is because it does not want another repeat performance of what happened in Boston. By suspending the two before the series begins, it may help avoid another confrontation between the two clubs.

Other Notes:

-Carl Crawford will be back in the Red Sox line-up Monday night playing left field. While most believe that Josh Reddick will be heading back to the bench, that may not necessarily be the case. Boston manager Terry Francona went out of his way to praise Reddick’s play saying that he has earned playing time. It is possible that the struggling JD Drew may see more bench time as a result of Crawford’s return with Reddick getting some time in right field.

-Jon Lester wants to pitch this weekend against the Seattle Mariners at Fenway. The organization won’t let him. As Boston often does, they will take extra precaution with Lester and have him scheduled to re-enter the rotation on July 26th against the Kansas City Royals. Lester is returning from a strained lat muscle.

-The Carlos Beltran rumors continue to be strong coming out of New York but it’s not just the Red Sox who are supposedly interested in the talented outfielder. Despite the Wilpon’s financial troubles, the Mets are reportedly willing to pay some of Beltran’s remaining contract if they get a top-notch prospect in return from another organization. This could bring some of the smaller market (revenue) teams into play as well. Stay tuned.