There was high drama Sunday night at Boston's Fenway Park. In the second inning, Red Sox pitcher Ryan Dempster threw four straight pitches that sure seemed to be designed to hit New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez.
Rodriguez, of course, is appealing a 211-game suspension for allegedly violating baseball's Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program. He's not the most popular person in baseball these days — at least not among players who haven't used performance-enhancing drugs. And being a Yankee, he was already hated in Boston.
It was on the fourth pitch that Dempster plunked Rodriguez in the elbow and side. That led to warnings to both teams and an angry tirade from Yankees manager Joe Girardi (because Dempster wasn't ejected). Girardi was the one who ended up being tossed from the game. Boston fans loved it all.
But the story doesn't end there. As ESPN explains, A-Rod "responded to being hit by a pitch the best way he knows how — with a home run." His sixth-inning blast "carried New York to a 9-6 win."
After the game, Rodriguez was asked if he thought Dempster should be punished. According to ESPN, A-Rod responded with a smile and said, "I'm the wrong guy to be asking about suspensions."
Dempster, by the way, says he wasn't trying to hit Rodriguez. "I was just trying to pitch him inside," the pitcher said after the game.
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