Low & Outside: AL Notes

David Ortiz got more than even for getting drilled.

Ortiz broke loose soon after CC Sabathia hit him with a pitch, starting and finishing a seven-run burst in the seventh inning that led the Boston Red Sox over the Yankees, 8-3, early Friday in a rain-delayed game that ended at 1:43 a.m.

Only a few thousand fans were left in the ballpark when Boston wrapped up its sixth win in a row overall and beat the Yankees for the seventh straight time. The Red Sox are 8-1 against their longtime rivals this year.

Bad blood seemed to be brewing from the get-go on a humid night. Ortiz appeared a likely target after homering in the first two games of the series - he irked the Yankees by admiring one of those shots, which came after a brushback, and some in pinstripes talked about how Big Papi looked too comfortable at the plate.

Boston's Josh Beckett had already hit Derek Jeter - near the elbow, with his second pitch of the game - and Alex Rodriguez around the hip when Ortiz came up in the fourth with one out and a runner on first.

Sabathia's first pitch was a heater that squarely nailed Ortiz. "The ball just got away from me," the lefty said.

Yankees skipper Joe Girardi and Cleveland counterpart Manny Acta got into a face-to-face screaming match when both benches and bullpens emptied after Mark Teixeira was hit by a fastball from Indians starter Fausto Carmona on Friday night.

One pitch after Curtis Granderson homered into the second deck to give New York a 4-0 lead in the second inning, a wild Carmona threw a pitch that was headed straight for Teixeira's upper back. Batting lefty, Teixeira ducked down and was hit squarely behind the right shoulder as he crumbled to the dirt.

The slugger slammed down his helmet and gestured toward Carmona as he got up, appearing to yell: "Throw the ball over the plate!"

Bob Geren will be back on the baseball diamond in a matter of weeks.

The former Oakland Athletics manager, fired Thursday with his club mired in a nine-game losing streak, will help coach his two sons in the Hawaiian Collegiate Baseball League this summer on the island of Oahu.

Too soon? Going into Friday's game with Cleveland, the Yankees shortstop needed 10 more hits to reach 3,000. He went 1 for 5.

Career hit total: 2,991.