As you can see, Red and I have decided to ignore last night’s little bump in the road to the World Series. Hey, it’s our blog, we get to do shyte like that whenever we want. Tonight, the Red Sox are busy treating the Mariners like the Cobra Kai boys treated Daniel LaRusso…you know, before he learned all that karate kid stuff. 11-2 in the ninth, a strong seven by Wake, and no dugout scuffles to report.

Speaking of scuffles, what’s up with the suspensions? Jonny Gomes only got five games? He’s pretty much turned into baseball’s equivalent of the hockey “goon” taking cheap shots whenever the situation presents itself, usually when half his team is holding somebody down. How are the Rays going to recover from five games without his .222 bat in the lineup? Well, here’s how “Uncle Junior” Joe Maddon sees it:

“I want to be very clear: I defend everything our guys did,” Rays manager Joe Maddon said before Friday night’s game at Texas. “I feel actually proud of the way we handled the situation that was presented.”

***

“We’d like to see a few more of their guys suspended. They started it, but we had more guys thrown out,” he said. “The perpetrator’s crime is way too close to us.”

“The perpetrator’s crime is way too close to us?” What the f%&k does that even mean? Anyway, July 1st the rivalry continues. Mark it down, ’cause this ain’t over.