ANAHEIM, Calif. — At the beginning of this three-game series Friday, the Red Sox lined up on opposite foul lines with the Angels in solidarity as the grieving home team observed a moment of silence in honor of rookie pitcher Nick Adenhart.
The mood in Sunday’s finale was in sharp contrast. The teams that met in three of the last five AL division series put the goodwill aside after an angry reaction from Bobby Abreu to a pitch by Boston ace Josh Beckett that sailed over his head triggered a bench-clearing incident.
Abreu later hit a go-ahead two-run single against Beckett, and Vladimir Guerrero hit his first home run of the season to help Dustin Moseley and the Angels beat the Red Sox 5-4.
“I’ve never hit anybody in the head, and it’s not really on my list of stuff to accomplish. But people can think what they want to think,” Beckett said. “I know Bobby Abreu. He knows I’m not trying to hit him in the head. Obviously, there’s been a lot of emotion in this series with them — not only facing us, but obviously the tragedy that all of them went through.”
In the first inning, Beckett was in the stretch position for what seemed like an eternity while getting the sign he wanted from catcher Jason Varitek. He came toward the plate with a fastball just as plate umpire Paul Schreiber jumped out to call time.
“He took too long delivering the ball, so Abreu called time — which is normal,” second base umpire and crew chief Joe West said. “Did he throw it up and in? Yeah. Do we believe he threw it at Abreu? No.”
Abreu said something to Beckett, then both dugouts and bullpens emptied — but no punches were thrown.
“It’s just baseball. Stuff happens,” Boston first baseman Kevin Youkilis said.
