Breaking News: Red Sox (Not Rays) Are Cowards

"I'll start hitting home runs.  I'll hit one tomorrow." - Adrian Gonzalez

And that's where it all began.  Last week, when the Red Sox were in Tampa for a series against the Rays, Gonzalez had a rough day at the plate in the penultimate game of the series.  He went 0-for-4 with 2 strikeouts, but kept a level head at the plate and instead took his frustrations out with the media instead of the umpire.

Rays starter David Price was one of the first to speak out on Gonzalez's comments, albeit a retweet.

 Moore made good on the suggestion, hitting Gonzalez in the hip in his first at-bat.  Not to be outdone, Felix Doubront planted one on Luke Scott, and both sides were even.  Well, at least until Friday night at Fenway.

In the sixth inning, Rays reliever Burke Badenhop drilled Dustin Pedroia in the back on a 2-0 count.  (We'll get back to this point later...) And in the ninth inning, already down 7-4, Sox reliever Franklin Morales attempted to hit Scott three times before landing one on his knee.

You can check out the scuffle in the video above, but as far as after the game goes, here's what Rays manager Joe Maddon had to say:

“I’m kind of curious regarding who put out the hit, because I know it wasn’t one of their players,” he said. “Truly, watch the video. The people that were incensed, obviously they’re the ones that were probably behind the effort, the really weak, cowardly effort on their part. Did I say that strongly enough? Did I make my point?”

Maddon, are you forgetting who started all of this?  Matt Moore, already seeing his season in shambles decided to take matters into his own hands and plunk Gonzalez to start all of this.  And the Red Sox are the ones who are weak and cowardly?  Give me a break.  It was the Rays who decided to start all of this garbage, and if you want to see someone who's acting cowardly, then look right at BJ Upton, who decided to start barking at a fan when he was exiting the field Friday night.  That's just embarrassing.