Wednesday Bantering: Orioles, Red Sox rivalry continues to grow

Tempers are flaring in the AL East. The Boston Red Sox and Baltimore Orioles, who were engaged in a heated controversy over a poor slid that Manny Machado executed last week, have added another match to the fire. Adam Jones, playing at Fenway Park, says that a “disrespectful fan” threw peanuts at him, while also spouting racial slurs.

“I heard there was 59 or 60 ejections tonight in the ballpark,” Jones told Bob Nightengale of USA Today. “It is what it is, right. I just go out and play baseball. It’s unfortunate that people need to resort to those type of epithets to degrade another human being. I’m trying to make a living for myself and for my family... It’s unfortunate. The best thing about myself is that I continue to move on, and still play the game hard. Let people be who they are. Let them show their true colors.’’

The number of ejections from the ballpark was lower than Jones speculated, but still rested higher than the weekday average. Nightengale reported 34 ejections, quoting Red Sox president.

Many fans, players and team personnel came to Jones’ defense, including Orioles manager Buck Showalter.

"I can't sit here and profess to know how Adam feels; I've never been black. I'm not going to sit here and try to act like I know. I can tell you how it makes me feel. Only thing I got on him about was he didn't let me know. I wish he would have let me know. It's not the only place that it happens. In our society, I am not surprised. It is unfortunate, and it is sad, and it is like a disease."

Machado, who started the initial incident with a poorly executed slide, wasn’t happy.

Toronto’s three-game winning streak came to an end last night, as they lost to the Yankees by a final score of 11-5 after a poor start from Mat Latos. Latos, in four innings of work, gave up 10 hits and seven runs while allowing four home runs.

On the bright side, Steve Pearce had a two home run night while going 4-4 with a double.

Today, Toronto will wrap up their series against the Yankees at 7:05 ET with home-town Marcus Stroman on the mound. Stroman, in his five starts of 2017, has only allowed more than two earned runs in one appearance. C.C. Sabathia is set to pitch for the Yankees coming off of a horrid start against the Orioles. In that game, he gave up seven runs in 5.2 innings.

You can watch the game on SNET-1 and ESPN or listen to it on SN590, as always.

Some major league updates:

• Both Josh Donaldson and Troy Tulowitzki are rehabbing in Dunedin. John Gibbons hopes to see the two players back on the roster when the Blue Jays head back to Toronto, but Gibbons called his mindset simply “guessing and hoping.”
• The Blue Jays won’t add a fifth starter until the series against Cleveland, per Gregor Chisholm of MLB.com. “Thursday’s off-day allows for that,” Chishom writes.

Some minor league updates:

• Lourdes Gurriel Jr. is on track to a full recovery from a hamstring injury soon, per Keegan Matheson of MLB.com.
• Another Jr. - Vladimir Guerrero Jr. returned to the Lansing Lugnut lineup last night after recovering from a knee injury.
• Ryan Borucki, with the Dunedin Blue Jays, struck out the first seven batters he faced in a total of 3.2 innings of work. I can’t wait until he gets called up in June when the Blue Jays are 21-67.

not really

Follow Mark Colley on Twitter: @MarkColley.