John Lackey's decision to hit the Yankees' Francisco Cervelli demonstrated the Red Sox are losing their cool in the AL East race.Interesting decision by John Lackey Tuesday night to deliver a payback pitch into the back of Francisco Cervelli after the Yankees backup catcher took him over the Green Monster in the Yankees 5-2 victory at Fenway Park.
Lackey was irritated by the way Cervelli clapped emphatically as he touched home plate after hitting just his second home run of the season, a fifth-inning solo shot put the Yankees up 4-2. So when Cervelli led off the seventh inning, Lackey drilled him.
I was not at Fenway Park but, like most of you, watching on Channel 9. As soon as the ball dented Cervelli's back, broadcasters Michael Kay and Ken Singleton pointed out the way Cervelli crossed home plate, and both announcers seemed to indicate Cervelli got what he deserved. After the game, of course, the Yankees defended their player, with Cervelli saying, "That's Cervelli," which is actually a pretty humorous comment. The Red Sox, meanwhile, did not deny that they were perturbed by the seldom-used catcher.
While I did not necessarily agree with the announcers saying Cervelli got what he deserved, I do understand there's a "code" of conduct some players and coaches buy into.
Obviously, Lackey is one of those players.
But, when you look back on this year's Yankees-Red Sox games, a few things stand out that indicate to me that Lackey's act was more selfish than a guy defending the code.
For one thing, the Sox have dominated the Yankees this year. So, why let something a guy as low on the food chain as Cervelli does get under your skin? Even if he was ticked off, Lackey should've filed it away for future consideration. You know the expression, "Scoreboard?" Well, Lackey and the Sox could have moved on with the attitude of, "You just hit a home run, and we've still beaten you 10 out of 13 times this year."
And then there's the matter of how many times David Ortiz has pimped home runs against the Yankees, and the fact that the Yankees have basically let Big Papi have his fun. Go back a couple of months and you'll recall Ortiz doing a full-spin at home plate while flipping his bat in disdain after a tape measure shot at Yankee Stadium. Joe Girardi was miffed, but the Yankees quietly kept taking their beatings.
This is why Lackey was silly to ignite something. Now, instead of simply standing on the strength of their superior head-to-head record, the Sox come off as a team that can be rattled by the likes of Cervelli. This could be big for the Yankees.
Then again, maybe not. I'm not a big believer in the "messages" and "statements" that we (in the media) tend to drum up when it comes to Yankees-Red Sox.
For the most part, I think regardless of what happens in the 18 games during the regular season, and regardless of which team wins the Division (which probably gets you the Tigers and Justin Verlander twice in the ALDS) and which team wins the Wild Card (which probably gets you a series with the Rangers and a pretty mediocre pitching staff), if the Yankees and Red Sox advance to the ALCS, nothing that happened in the regular season is going to matter. The team that plays better baseball is going to win.
So all I can go on now is appearances. And up until the moment when Lackey decided he had to protect the Code, I thought the Red Sox appeared to be the more unflappable team.
Now, maybe, it gets interesting.
Jeff Bradley: jbradley@starledger.com; Twitter.com/jerseyjbradley
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