BOSTON – It’s possible the Red Sox yesterday evened the score they had to settle with the Yankees, but that depends upon your definition of retribution.
Does Jason Giambi getting drilled near the elbow after Jorge Posada is leveled in a home plate collision constitute payback for Kevin Youkilis taking a pitch off the wrist, two weeks after Joba Chamberlain fired two fastballs over Youkilis’ head?
If that all adds up to even, there’s a decent chance the Yankees and Red Sox will play tonight’s series finale at Fenway Park without further incident.
The lone casualty in the Yankees’ 10-1 loss yesterday was Youkilis, who took a Chien-Ming Wang pitch off the right wrist in the fifth inning and was forced to leave the game with a contusion – X-rays were negative.
“Any time somebody gets hit in the wrist or the hand. . . . I was relieved when we got the [medical] report back,” Red Sox manager Terry Francona said.
As for the others, the damage was minimal. Posada was leveled at home plate by Eric Hinske in the sixth inning, as he attempted to score from third on Dustin Pedroia’s grounder and Giambi took a Josh Beckett fastball near the elbow with two outs in the seventh.
“I respect it,” Giambi said of getting plunked. “[Beckett] is looking out for his guys.”
Even so, the Yankees made it clear they weren’t trying to get Youkilis.
“There’s no way we’re trying to hit him,” Johnny Damon said.
Hinske, who was out at the plate in his collision with Posada in the sixth inning, said there was no malice intended.
“I realized I was going to be out and my only play was to try and run [Posada] over,” Hinske said. “I asked Posada if he was OK during my next at-bat and he said he was fine.”
Beckett said he certainly appreciated Hinske’s determination.
“Obviously you don’t want anybody to get hurt in a collision like that,” Beckett said. “But that’s the right play there. I don’t think anybody on their side thought that was dirty or anything. You are trying to scratch another run against a really good pitcher.”
mpuma@nypost.com