Red Sox's Triple-A team shows contempt toward Tyler Austin with strange promotion

  Tyler Austin and Joe Kelly etched their names into Yankees-Red Sox lore when the two triggered a rousing benches-clearing brawl on April 11 at Fenway Park. After that wild game, Yankees' manager Aaron Boone adamantly told reporters that his players weren't going to retaliate the next night. In the other locker room, the Red Sox expressed some frustration, but they also weren't inclined to take further action.  Until now. Sort of.  Boston's Triple-A affiliate, the Pawtucket Red Sox, have scheduled a unique promotion for the weekend of May 5-6 when the Triple-A Yankees (Scranton/Wilkes-Barre) are in town. According to the PawSox's Twitter page, all fans named Tyler or Austin will not be welcomed into the ballpark, while all fans named Joe and Kelly will be allowed to enter for free. 

PawSox will host "Evil Empire Weekend" at McCoy Stadium on May 5 and 6. Any fans named Joe or Kelly will be admitted for free to the weekend's games, while any fans self-identifying as Tylers or Austins will be banned from the premises. #RivalryRenewed https://t.co/LQYnGQSzJ6 pic.twitter.com/XtllPNvgYz

— PawSox (@PawSox) April 19, 2018

That's right. This is real.  The fray was ignited when Austin made a hard and late slide into second base on a ground ball. Once Austin reached the bag, his spike struck Red Sox infielder Brock Holt in the leg, and the two exchanged words once the play was over. That brief chat also led to both teams leaving the dugouts and bullpens without incident, and umpires determined that the play wasn’t reviewable. However, that was only the start of the madness. Later in the game, Kelly drilled Austin with a 97 mph fastball to the left elbow. The incident picked up steam when Austin slammed his bat down in frustration and charged the pitcher’s mound to confront Kelly. In a matter of seconds, both players were exchanging right and left hooks, and the teams rushed out onto the field to join in and break up the chaos. Austin was handed a five-game suspension from Major League Baseball last week, and his appeal was heard on Thursday. If you want to connect with Tom Hanslin, email him at thanslin@gmail.com or follow him on Twitter @tomhanslin.