The Colorado Rockies keel-hauled the Boston Red Sox on Wednesday with a 20-7 win at Coors Field that gave the hosts the series win and dropped the Sox to 1-5 since the All-Star break.
Given the 27 runs plated in the game, there were plenty of highlights. None, though, stands out like the fourth-inning near-brawl that was touched off when Rockies starter Cal Quantrill exchanged words with Red Sox catcher Reese McGuire following the latter’s fly-out. Here’s a look:
Quantrill is a demonstrative and excitable sort on the mound, and that may have been the inciting incident here. As things unfolded, Quantrill shouted at McGuire and appeared to reference his 2020 arrest for indecent exposure (NSFW lip reading can be done here), which led to further hostilities.
No one was ejected, and thankfully, an outright brawl between the two teams was avoided. Afterward, Quantrill in the clubhouse addressed the incident:
For what it’s worth — and it may not be relevant at all to the current situation — Quantrill, dating back to his Guardians days, has a sliver of history when it comes to showing exuberance following an out recorded against the Red Sox. Let’s roll tape from 2022:
In this one, the 29-year-old Quantrill, acquired from Cleveland via trade last November, notched a quality start and picked up his seventh win of the season. McGuire went 0 for 4 at the plate.
As MLB.com’s Thomas Harding notes, the occasion marked the anniversary of another, much more famous Boston brawl (a game that also featured a Quantrill on the mound):
“Maybe there’s something about the Red Sox and July 24, because Wednesday marked the 20th anniversary of the famous face-shoving fracas between Jason Varitek and Alex Rodriguez, a game that also happened to feature a pitching appearance from Paul Quantrill, father of Cal.”
The loss drops Boston to 54-47 on the season and 1 ½ games out of the third and final AL wild-card spot. The Red Sox are also in third place in the AL East and 6 ½ games behind the Orioles.
