Red Sox, Rays altercation over late stolen base

Much has been made of the ‘unwritten rules’ of baseball over the last couple of years. From admiring home runs to exceptionally long home run trots, benches have cleared and brawls have escalated because of violations of these rules.

Another example seemed to be called to attention during the Boston-Tampa Bay game on Sunday afternoon. With two outs in the seventh inning and the Rays up by five over the Red Sox, Yunel Escobar took off for third base after doubling. Because of the lead and no-throw from Red Sox’ catcher A.J. Pierzynski, the call was defensive indifference and Escobar reached third. It was also apparently because of the lead that the decision to take an extra base drew the ire of the Boston dugout. Bill Chastain of MLB.com says that David Ross in particular took exception.

"Ross allowed that the steal did not sit well with the Red Sox. “I think our whole team took exception to the stolen base down five with two outs in the [seventh],” Ross said. “He’s in scoring position.”"

And Jonny Gomes, who was among the three players ejected.

"He can have the bag if he wants the bag. I’m not concerned about the bag at all. I wouldn’t have done it, but I don’t have a problem with him taking the bag. He can take the bag all he wants."

And manager John Farrell

"Red Sox manager John Farrell felt as though the original comments from his dugout stemmed from Escobar stealing third with a five-run lead. “We’re down five in the seventh, so it’s somewhat of a gray area when you shut down the running game,” said Farrell."

On the other side of the diamond, the Rays immediately brought up the actions of the Red Sox last year in the playoffs – when Farrell’s team did exactly the same thing, stealing bases with a rather large lead of 8-2. Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon had issue with the Red Sox having issue.

"“I want to take this moment, please, regarding this crazy stuff about leads and teams not trying to score runs,” Maddon said. “I did not take any exception when they stole on us last year in the eighth inning of the Division Series. … I didn’t take any, because our goal is to not permit them to score runs. Our goal is to score runs — the whole game.”"

The Rays should know more than anybody what it’s like to come from behind a very large, seemingly insurmountable deficit. In game 162 of the 2011 season, the Rays had their season on the line against the New York Yankees with a chance to be the Wild Card of that year’s playoffs. The Rays were down by seven going into the eighth inning and rallied to send the game into extra innings, eventually winning it in the twelfth inning.