Yankees-Red Sox rivalry comes back in big way...big like Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton

American League baseball fans saw something Wednesday night that they haven't seen in a while, and speaking as a New York Yankees fan, it felt good. I'm talking the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry; which came back in not one, but two bench-clearing incidents.

Things got testy in the third inning after Tyler Austin's Yankees spikes clipped Brock Holt's Red Sox leg on a controversial slide into second base. Holt took issue with the minimal contact and they exchanged words before being separated and both benches emptying onto the field. 

But it was four innings later, with the Yankees leading 10-6, when Red Sox reliever Joe Kelly shooed Austin from the plate with a retaliatory 97 mph fastball aimed at his knees that things got interesting. Two pitches later Kelly plunked Austin on the elbow. A pissed off Austin slammed his bat on the plate after the intentional throw and took a step towards Kelly.

"Come on," screamed Kelly ... and it was like old rivalry days again.

WATCH: The Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees got into a crazy bench-clearing brawl pic.twitter.com/Il4CMtc1DL

— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) April 12, 2018

Austin, after getting in a few wild punches, found himself being protected by Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton while Kelly slinked out of the pileup with ripped buttons and scratches on his neck. The two Yankees giants stood above the fray, literally and figuratively, as they sorted out and guided both teams into their respective dugouts ... Judge with a little smile on his face.

“I felt that was a good slide,” Austin said to a disagreeing Holt after they tangled at second base. While they were staring and jawing, out came both teams, including the bullpens with Yankees reliever Tommy Kahnle leading the pack. 

Here's Tyler Austin's slide from earlier. Spikes come up a bit, but he hardly made contact with Holt. He slides through the base. His job is to break up the play. He did his job and he didn't hurt anyone. No malintent there.#Yankees #RedSoxpic.twitter.com/E5c6FwqpBe

— Gary Phillips (@GaryHPhillips) April 12, 2018

Neither brouhaha was up to the drama of Pedro Martinez shoving Don Zimmer to the ground back in the 2003 ALCS, but it's a reminder of how much these two teams really despise each other.

The funniest part? The look on the Red Sox players faces as they watched Judge and Stanton — all 13' 2" of them — wading through the scrum of the tussling players. Like giants among men.

It seems like decades since such fervor filled Fenway Park. Even the "YANKEES SUCK" chant from the Sox faithful sounded heartfelt last night. And that's a good thing.

Greinke breaks collarbone during Dodgers-Padres brawl (VIDEO)

Both benches cleared in San Diego's Petco Park when Carlos Quentin charged the mound after being plunked by Zack Greinke in the sixth inning of Thursday's Dodgers-Padres game.

Quentin obviously felt that the $150 million righthander's pitch was intended as retaliation for a Jason Marquis pitch which sailed by Dodger Matt Kemp's head earlier in the night.

After the dust had settled — and Greinke, Kemp, Quentin and Jerry Hairston were ejected by umpire Sam Holbrook— Greinke found out he had a broken collarbone.

It is unclear whether Greinke was hurt in the original brouhaha.  He dropped his glove and lowered his shoulder as the much larger Quentin barrelled into him.  They wrestled on the mound before both benches joined in the scrum.



After the players had initially returned to their dugouts, the Dodgers' Jerry Hairston ran out and stirred things up once again. A fuming Kemp had to be restrained by Dodgers manager Don Mattingly and pitcher Josh Beckett.

 

"He [Quentin] should not play a game until Greinke can pitch," said an angry Mattingly at the post game presser.

Greinke and Quentin are old adversaries.  This was the third time the Dodger has drilled Quentin — the last time being in 2009. Quentin has led the majors in HBPs the last two seasons.

The heavy-hitting Quentin could be facing a five or six game suspension for charging the mound if history is any indication.

The Dodgers ended up with a 3-2 victory but suffered a real loss with the injury to Greinke.