The Yankees lost 6-4 to the Red Sox, falling to 0-4 against their arch rivals. But it wasn’t for lack of trying from fired-up Joe Girardi.
First the Yankees manager fussed with Boston’s first-base coach — presumably accusing him of stealing signs — then got ejected by the home plate umpire.
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Ah, it wouldn’t be Yanks-Sawx without bad blood boiling, would it?
Right after David Ortiz — he of the .208 average coming into the night — ripped an RBI double to right and gave Boston a 4-0 fourth-inning lead, Girardi had seen enough.
With Kevin Youkilis batting, Girardi walked all the way to the far end of the dugout to jaw at Boston first-base coach Tim Bogar from the top step. According to somebody near the argument, Girardi warned him, “You’re going to get somebody hurt,” implying reciprocity was coming.
Bogar asked “What are you talking about?” When Girardi accused “You’re moving around,” a tactic that can be used to tip pitches, Bogar shot back, “What am I supposed to do? Look at you? Get your head out of your (rear).”
It should be noted J.D. Drew got hit with a pitch in the seventh inning. At any rate, neither Girardi nor Bogar would clarify their tiff after the game.
“I’m not going to comment on that,” Girardi said. “Baseball men being baseball men. It’s just something I thought I saw and just leave it at that.”
For his part, Bogar claimed ignorance and innocence.
“I don’t know what was going on. I just heard him yelling at me from the dugout,” Bogar said.
Asked if he was surprised, he said, “Yeah. I don’t know what he was talking about. I just reacted to what he said to me. Honestly I was standing there, just heard him say something, and I turned around and I answered what he had to say to me.”
What was that?
“That’s between me and him: It’s a baseball thing, heat of the moment. He just had something to say, and I answered him back,” Bogar said.
Boston manager Terry Francona could afford to be flippant in victory. Asked about the incident, he said, “I don’t know. I think Joe was just checking on the family. Usually when those guys haven’t seen each other for a while they ask how things are going. Bogie said everybody’s OK at home.”
Pressed whether Girardi was accusing Bogar and Boston of sign-stealing, Francona responded, “They could have. I don’t know. I really don’t care. You’d probably be better off asking them; I was huddled in the dugout trying to stay warm.”
Girardi had no problem staying warm after getting ejected in the bottom of the next inning.
Seeing Phil Hughes squeezed on occasion throughout the night, Girardi saw Derek Jeter take a 1-1 pitch that the Yankees thought was a ball but got called a strike. After Jeter took a called strike three on a pitch he thought was inside, Jeter voiced his displeasure with home plate umpire Jerry Meals.
Girardi sprang from the dugout and started giving Mears an earful. He eventually got up in the umpire’s face and got himself ejected, his third as Yankees manager and first of the season.
“It was just the calls for the whole night,” Girardi said. “I didn’t like ’em. I guess that’s the best way for me to explain it.”
It also was the best way to fire up his team. On the next pitch after play resumed, Johnny Damon crushed a two-out, two-run homer into the second deck in right field.
On the pitch after that, Mark Teixeira followed with a solo shot to left to pull the Bombers within 4-3. But that’s as close as they got.