Projo Sox Blog

Justin Masterson is considered one of the nicest guys on the Red Sox, and probably one of the most charming, polite, and friendly in all of baseball. So it should come as no surprise that last night against Anaheim was the first time in his baseball life that he has ever been warned by an umpire.

When home plate umpire warned him for throwing a ball that went behind Torii Hunter it was, however, a shock to him.

"I was surprised. When I thought about it, I could see, okay, the history and what took place. But me, I was trying to throw it right down the middle. But that was just how erratic my pitching was, especially in the early going," Masterson said.

The Red Sox and Angels brawled during the last Sox visit here, after Josh Beckett uncorked a ball that flew near Bobby Abreu's head. Beckett maintained it was unintentional, but received a suspension anyway. Hunter was ejected following the fracas.

Regardless, this time, Masterson said he had no intention of throwing at Hunter -- he could barely find the plate, he said.

"I'll tell you, I couldn't throw a strike. The looks of it were not that good, but there was no intention whatsoever on that pitch behind him. I left a slider up and in on him, and I was trying to get through a sinker, my body was going towards home plate, and it turns out my arm was about two hours behind my body," he said.

His manager backed him wholeheartedly.

"I know the ball to Torii Hunter looked probably awful -- but he was not trying to do anything," Terry Francona said. "I know how it looked -- I'm just telling you, it wasn't the way it looked. That's the only thing I can say."

 Tags  Boston Red Sox Dan Barbarisi Justin Masterson Terry Francona Torii Hunter

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