Junichi Tazawa Does Not Fear a Rampaging Youkzilla.

This Article Originally Published at GetOutofMyBallpark.com

Apparently Kevin Youkilis has been reading the notes that I’ve been giving him on this site. I’ve been saying for weeks that this year’s Sox club needed a fight to get themselves riled up for the stretch run.

Last night, after having traded plunkings for the second night in a row, Youk decided to make people think twice about hitting the Beard.

After Sox starter Junichi Tazawa making his first major league start, had hit Tigers first baseman Miguel Cabrera (who apparently couldn’t take the boo-boo and came out of the game later) in the hand in the first inning, Rick Porcello hit Youkilis in the middle of the back for the second time in two nights.

Well, Youk didn’t like this, and charged the mound, evading the Tigers' new first baseman and tackling Porcello as the crowd coming from both benches covered them. Both guys were booted from the game (suspensions likely to follow).

This was needed for so many reasons. Sure, Youk missed the rest of this game. That  was okay, because the guy who pinch ran for him (probably the last time Mike Lowell will ever pinch run) hit two home runs.

He'll likely miss at least three more games, but the guys loved it. They got fired up and let some of their tensions boil out, as evidenced by seeing the normally placid Tito getting in the face of a guy whom he has expressed a great respect for in the past, Tiger’s Manager Jim Leyland.

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