Entertainment

This game between the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees descended into a full-scale brawl

Yankees hitter Tyler Austin took exception to being hit by a 97mph fastball.
Yankees hitter Tyler Austin took exception to being hit by a 97mph fastball. Yankees hitter Tyler Austin took exception to being hit by a 97mph fastball.

The Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees have one of the most heated rivalries in baseball, and the animosity isn’t generally far below the surface when they play.

But it erupted into a full-scale brawl when the pair faced off at Boston’s Fenway Park home on Wednesday night.

The scrap was sparked by a 97mph pitch from Boston’s Joe Kelly which struck Yankees hitter Tyler Austin squarely in the side.

Both teams’ benches quickly emptied as punches were thrown, with the two players at the centre ejected from the game alongside Yankees third-base coach Phil Nevin and reliever Tommy Kahnle.

The pitch from Kelly, which followed a similar effort earlier in the inning that missed Austin, appeared to be in retaliation for an incident earlier in the game.

Austin slid into second base and caught Boston shortstop Brock Holt in the calf with the spikes of his boot.

Whether Kelly or Austin came out on top in the brawl that followed is hard to judge, but it was certainly the Yankees who were smiling at the end of the night.

They ran out 10-7 victors to end Boston’s nine-game winning streak.

Perhaps the biggest winner though was Kelly. Not always a favourite among Red Sox fans, he’s found himself with an army of new admirers.