The Boston Red Sox were far from their sharpest during Wednesday afternoon’s series finale against the Colorado Rockies, and the lopsided contest reached a tipping point that sparked a mid-game scuffle between both clubs.
Red Sox catcher Reese McGuire batted a side-retiring fly ball to center field, which prompted Rockies pitcher Cal Quantrill to shout and showboat as both teams headed for their respective dugouts. McGuire, who didn’t appreciate the unnecessary out-of-the-blue reaction to a routine flyout, directly approached Quantrill before being blocked off by Colorado catcher Jacob Stallings and the crowd of emptied benches and bullpens.
Presumably, Quantrill’s instigating tactics got the exact reaction that the 29-year-old was looking for from McGuire.
Boston outfielder Jarren Duran needed to be restrained by the coaching staff and guided back to the dugout. The 27-year-old All-Star shouted back Quantrill’s direction and backed it up by taking the right-hander 419 feet out of Coors Field, cutting Colorado’s lead over the Red Sox to 13-3 in the fifth inning — giving the Rockies the perfect response.
Ironically, the McGuire-Quantrill shoving match came on the 20th anniversary of the iconic Jason Varitek-Alex Rodriguez brawl between the Red Sox and New York Yankees in 2004. Granted, that multi-decade-old fight measures as one of the more violent Boston-related skirmishes, however, what’s even more ironic is Cal being the son of ex-big leaguer Paul Quantrill, who started the Varitek-Rodriguez game at Fenway Park.
Boston entered the series finale losers in four of its five games coming out of the All-Star break, placing the Red Sox six games back of the American League East and a single game behind the Kansas City Royals for the final AL wild-card spot.
