The Mets and Red Sox met on the first night of interleague play in MLB on Friday with Johan Santana squaring off against Daisuke Matsuzaka. Johan went seven innings giving up three runs (two earned) on seven hits, picking up his sixth win of the season. With two outs and the bases empty in the bottom of the 5th, Santana went high and tight on Kevin Youkilis who turned into the pitch and got hit on the elbow. Even though Youk turned into the pitch, the guy seemed playfully ticked off that he wound up getting hit, ostensibly because it hurt. As he was going up the first base line, he looks at Santana and appears to playfully say, “S***, damn.” Matter of fact, the video has made the rounds because NESN color man Dennis Eckersley actually cusses in the video. Check it out so you can judge Youk’s reaction for yourself:
There didn’t seem to be any sort of disrespect on Youk’s part, and Kevin even said he was joking around. That’s exactly how it came across to me after watching the video. Well apparently Johan Santana saw things differently. Check out his reaction to the whole thing — it’s pretty intense:
If anyone needs to go back and watch the replay I think it’s Johan. Though I appreciate his attitude towards the game and fire and passion, I believe it’s misguided in this case. Show the man a replay and if he still thinks Youk was staring him down, then he has some serious problems.
