The Boston Red Sox aren't having the greatest of times currently, as they dropped their first two games against the Los Angeles Angels. Entering Wednesday, the Red Sox were at 29-34 on the year, a full 10 games back of the New York Yankees for first place in the AL East. Looking to avoid a sweep in Wednesday's series finale, sparks flew between both teams before first pitch.
During pre-game warmups, Red Sox first base coach Jose Flores got into it with Angels starting pitcher Tyler Anderson. In the midst of the heated exchange, Angels pitching coach Barry Enright entered the fray and began yelling back at Flores. Ultimately, both benches cleared to separate Flores, Anderson, and Enright.
Red Sox, Angels partake in bizarre benches-clearing incident before series finale
There is no context as to what caused Flores to go after the Angels. Anderson was spotted speaking with Red Sox manager Alex Cora in the outfield after the argument.
As mentioned earlier, this series has been disastrous for the Red Sox, as they were defeated twice. On Monday, they lost a narrow, high-scoring 7-6 game against the Angels. Then on Tuesday, the Red Sox lost 4-3 in the 10th inning. After the loss on Tuesday, Cora said that the players aren't getting better, and at some point, the responsibility falls on him.
The first inning of Wednesday's game was an eventful one, as the Angels took an early 4-0 lead with no outs on the board following an RBI double by Nolan Schanuel and a three-run homer by Taylor Ward. But in the bottom of the first inning, the Red Sox took a 5-4 lead following RBI singles by Wilyer Abreu and Abraham Toro, Marcelo Mayer drawing a bases-loaded walk, and a two-run double by David Hamilton.
The Red Sox went on to win the game 11-9 on a walk-off, 308 foot home run by Ceddanne Rafaela.
UPDATE: After the game, Cora and Angels manager Ron Washington were asked about the argument between Flores, Anderson, and Enright. Both downplayed the incident, saying that it was just "baseball talk."
“What I can tell you is baseball talk. Things happen like that," said Washington, h/t the Boston Globe. "I don’t know what else to say. There’s no grudge against both teams. So just some baseball talk.”