Any baseball fan that thinks the rivalry between the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox has simmered down clearly did not tune in to Sunday night's classic.
Alex Rodriguez was unsurprisingly at the center of some controversy that livened up a game that became an offensive slugfest. In the top of the second inning, Rodriguez was nearly hit in the knee by a Ryan Dempster fastball. Later in the at-bat, ahead 3-0 in the count, Dempster plunked Rodriguez hard in the side.
A-Rod looked unhappy but took his base as the home plate umpire emphatically warned both sides. Now unable to retaliate, an irate Joe Girardi stormed to the field hurling profanities at both the umpires and the Red Sox, earning an ejection and leaving the Bronx Bombers without their manager for the rest of the game.
His outburst seemed to inspire the Yanks, though. A-Rod eventually crossed the plate and New York erased an early 2-0 deficit, tying the ballgame in that second inning.
Starting pitcher CC Sabathia didn't have his stuff on Sunday, though giving up several leads. He allowed the game to get to 3-2 Red Sox before A-Rod again tied the score with an RBI groundout to short.
In the sixth inning, the game appeared to be getting out of hand for New York. Down 6-3, Rodriguez exacted some revenge on Dempster, swatting a monumental blast to dead center field that traveled 446 feet. He pumped his fist and shot a nasty look at Dempster, then mimicked Boston star David Ortiz's home run celebration at home plate.
The Yankees eventually loaded the bases in the sixth inning for Brett Gardner, who cleared them with a go-ahead triple. The Yankees eventually won the game 9-6, taking two out of three from their hated rivals in Fenway Park.
When asked about his catalytic homer, A-Rod said, "It was awesome. I was pretty excited. It was the ultimate payback."
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