10:36 AM EDT on Monday, April 25, 2005

BY STEVEN KRASNER
Journal Sports Writer

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- The bad blood and beanball incidents that have frequently marked games between the Boston Red Sox and the Tampa Bay Devil Rays the last five-plus seasons erupted anew yesterday at Tropicana Field.

A total of four players and the managers, Boston's Terry Francona and Tampa Bay's Lou Piniella, were ejected after a pair of bench-clearing gatherings around the mound, one in the top of the seventh and the other in the bottom of the seventh, in a game the Red Sox eventually won, 11-3.

Bronson Arroyo earned the triumph as the Sox salvaged the finale of the three-game set, Manny Ramirez clubbed a homer in response to a pitch behind his head and Jay Payton, who entered the game after Trot Nixon was tossed, crushed a grand slam. David Ortiz launched another monster solo homer in a six-run eighth-inning uprising.

But those were mere details.

This game featured the payroll-challenged Rays, sporting a chip-on-their-shoulder attitude in their home

dome with a majority of the 30,236 fans rooting for the enemy Red Sox, versus the defending World Champions.

From the outside, the seeds for yesterday's emotionally charged events seemed sown in the previous two games of the series, when a total of five batters were hit, three of them Red Sox players.

Not that Francona necessarily saw it that way.

"This was today. Sometimes the game gets a little crazy," said Francona.

Yesterday's craziness, though, didn't emerge until there were two outs in the bottom of the sixth. At that point, the Sox were enjoying a 4-2 lead and Arroyo was cruising.

But then Arroyo threw a fastball that plunked Aubrey Huff, the Rays' cleanup hitter and best player, on the leg. Huff glared at Arroyo as he started to walk down the first-base line, with Boston catcher Jason Varitek and plate umpire Ted Barrett quickly getting between Huff and Arroyo, who stood motionless on the mound.

In the bottom of the inning, after retiring Nixon on a popup, Tampa Bay right-hander Lance Carter fired a fastball behind Ramirez's head in apparent retaliation for Huff getting hit.

Again, Barrett quickly came out from behind home plate to make sure nothing happened. Ramirez didn't leave the plate area. Barrett promptly issued a warning to Carter and both benches.

Ramirez then delivered his own message. He cracked Carter's next pitch deep into the seats in left-center, putting Boston on top, 5-2.

"(Carter) woke up the baby. Manny was taking a nap," said Kevin Millar. "There's not a better retaliation."

"No comment," said Ramirez.

That was just the spark that lit the fuse. Carter then threw an inside and head-high fastball to Ortiz, the next batter, on a 1-and-2 pitch.

Ortiz quickly began moving his massive 6-foot-4, 230-pound body toward the mound, but he was intercepted in a bear hug by Rays catcher Toby Hall, a 6-foot-3, 230-pounder. Barrett also put a bear hug on Big Papi.

By then, the benches and bullpens had emptied, with everyone meeting at the mound. The only heated confrontation seemed to be between Nixon and Devil Rays pitcher Dewon Brazelton, a starter who didn't even pitch in the series.

After a nine-minute delay, which included a huddle as the umpires decided whom to eject, Nixon, Brazelton and Carter were tossed. Piniella had to go, too, because the manager is held responsible after a warning has been issued.

Ortiz had no doubt that Carter had thrown at his head on purpose.

"Hell, yeah, what do you think?" said Ortiz, still incensed after the game. "If by mistake they hit me, that's understandable. But don't throw at the head. We don't want guys missing time because of something stupid like that. I respect everybody, but I'm not taking (stuff) from anybody."

And Ortiz had some harsh words for Piniella, too.

"Everybody is a professional here," Ortiz said. "Everyone needs to act professional. It's not like we're playing baby games like sometimes I'm watching on TV and their manager (Piniella) is going off on their pitcher just because they made a mistake. I've never seen that before. And that tells you that sometimes everything is started because of him."

But that wasn't the end of it.

Arroyo began the seventh. His first pitch to Chris Singleton was out of the strike zone. The second hit Singleton's right leg, a seemingly obvious retaliation for what had happened in the top of the inning. Again the benches emptied. This time there was more milling around than malice.

More bookkeeping was necessary, though, after a four-minute delay. Arroyo and Francona were thrown out.

Arroyo, who led the majors with 20 hit batsmen last year, including a now storied plunking of the Yankees' Alex Rodriguez last July 24 that sparked the Sox to their title run in many eyes, played innocent after racking up his first two hit-batsmens of the season.

"Nobody told me to do anything," said Arroyo, who improved to 2-0. "I went out there and pitched. I was trying to pitch him inside. The game got out of hand. It's going to happen when you get balls up around guys' heads. I know Singleton was a little (upset), but that's part of the game."

A suspension for Arroyo might also be part of yesterday's aftermath.

"I don't know. The umpire seemed reasonable. They've got to do what they've got to do," said Arroyo.

"(Bronson) hit the guy on the thigh," said Francona. "I don't know how it (a possible suspension) will work. He hit him in the thigh. It's not the end of the world."

While not directly acknowledging that Arroyo was protecting his teammates by hitting Huff and Singleton, Millar talked in general terms about teams and teammates.

"We're family in here," Millar said. "You protect your family. The game hasn't changed in 100 years."

The Rays, seeking their first ever three-game sweep of the Sox, were only trailing 5-2. And they pushed across another in the inning before stranding two baserunners.

Boston, though, emphatically steam-rollered their way through three Tampa Bay pitchers in the eighth, taking out their frustrations on the scoreboard, where the Devil Rays felt the most pain.

But the incidents took center stage as the Sox packed up to fly home.

"They get one guy hit and they want to retaliate. It's part of the game, but a sad part of it," said Payton.

"We won, so it wasn't that ugly," said Francona. "I don't really remember what's happened before (between the Sox and Rays). I wasn't even here for it. Lou (Piniella) wasn't, either. But David, the ball almost hit him in the ear. Manny, behind his head. Millar got hit (twice in the series). If we lose those guys, it's going to make it tough to win."

It was the topic of conversation in the Tampa Bay clubhouse, too.

"If they (the Sox) are going to hit our batters we're certainly going to do the same thing," said Piniella, who thought Ortiz shoulf have been thrown out, too. "In that case (Ortiz), the ball might have gotten away from him. Look, we walked nine batters. It wasn't like we had impeccable control. The ball might have gotten away from him and maybe it didn't. I thought Huff was hit intentionally. We're not going to be intimidated, whether you are a World Championship ballclub or not."

"I didn't really expect them to retaliate because they are the defending World Series champions and they want to keep their guys healthy," added Singleton. "When the ball starts flying around like that, that's when people get hurt."

The Sox, though, managed to get out of Tropicana Field without injury, and with a win, to boot. They can put the Rays in their rear-view mirror.

"As far as I'm concerned, it's over. What's done is done," said Payton.

There will be plenty of time for the teams to settle down, if they so desire. They don't play again until July 18, when the Rays visit Fenway for the start of a three-game series.