Jonny Gomes did the same exact thing in his first three at-bats on Thursday — he hit home runs. Behind Gomes’ power and Bronson Arroyo’s pitching, the Cincinnati Reds were able to topple the Washington Nationals by a final count of 7-0.
Gomes, who began the year on a minor league contract after struggling mightily with the Tampa Bay Rays last season, finished the game 3-for-4 with three homers, three runs and five RBIs.
After the contest, Gomes said this was an emotional game for him.
Said Gomes: “I was in Triple-A to start this thing off and now, not too many at-bats …read more

Everyone expected Boston Red Sox centerfielder Coco Crisp to get beaned after his hand-to-nutsack combat with Tampa Bay Rays’ Achinori Iwamura yesterday, but this turned into a brawl normally reserved for a Sox-Yanks smackdown.
Crisp got tossed, as did Rays pitcher James Shields and outfielder Jonny Gomes.
Check out the fight as well as the 5th inning WTF?-scuffle between Manny Ramirez and Kevin Youlikis in the dugout.

Somewhere, Joe Torre enjoying a cocktail, laughing, and indulging in some schadenfreude. 
Joe Girardi, manager of the New York Yankees, has been fined as a result of the brawl between his team and the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. NYY players Melky Cabrera were fined and suspended for a trio of games; Rays right fielder and “You Know” master Jonny Gomes has been fined and be on the sidelines for two games.
We’re happy, but not as happy as we would have been if had been a Yankees-Red Sox fight that bagged the boys in pinstripes.

You know us. Whenever there’s a story that even remotely casts the New York Yankees in a bad light, we’re all over it like the fawning media and post-Super Bowl Eli Manning.
That being said, we feel compelled to post this follow-up on yesterday’s Yanks-Rays brawl.
Seems Tampa Bay GM Joe Maddon thinks those Damn Yankees are also Dirty Yankees:
“What you saw today was the definition of a dirty play. There’s no room for that in our game. It’s contemptible. It’s wrong. It’s borderline criminal. I can’t believe they did that.”
Can you believe those jerks? What’s wrong with them? Why they should—oh …read more