After Joba Chamberlain threw over the head of Evan Longoria last night, Rays starter Matt Garza retaliated in the fifth by grazing plunking Mark Teixeira in the shoulder. I actually didn’t think it was payback at all; Dioner Navarro had set up inside, Tampa was already down 2-0, and Garza would have been putting two men on for Alex frickin’ Rodriguez. But alas, I was wrong. “I just kind of got tired of people brushing [Longoria] back,’’ Garza said. “I hate to be that guy, but someone had to take a stand and say, “You know, we’re tired of it.” You can go after our best guy, well, we’ll make some noise too, and that’s what happened.’’
Considering Josh Beckett and AJ Burnett received six game suspensions for not hitting batters this season, is it crazy to think Garza might get an 11-game suspension (forcing him to miss two starts) considering he hit a guy and admitted to doing it on purpose? Bobby Jenks got just a $750 fine for admitting he threw behind Ian Kinsler earlier this year, so maybe Garza just ends up missing one start and a couple grand. Who knows, but I think Bob Watson has proven something like this will not go unpunished.