BOSTON -- In the top of the ninth inning, with the Boston Red Sox leading by three runs and the New York Yankees mounting a rally, the remains of a sold-out crowd at Fenway Park began to chant, "We want A-Rod!"
And that was only one of the extraordinary sights and sounds Tuesday night on Yawkey Way.
If the age-old Yankees-Red Sox rivalry has, as retiring Alex Rodriguez said earlier in the day, "lost a little bit of its luster the last few years," it returned for one night, complete with a benches-clearing dust-up in the seventh inning. It also might have offered a glimpse of the rivalry's future, too, at least on the Red Sox's side, as young outfielders Andrew Benintendi (3-for-3, two runs, one RBI) and Jackie Bradley Jr. (one ridiculous throw from center field) played starring roles in Boston's 5-3 victory.
"I think you realize this rivalry has been dominated by big-time players, big names, and yet that next group of names is going to take prominence," Red Sox manager John Farrell said. "The game moves on. The names are going to change, as it did when Alex and David [Ortiz] and Tek [Jason Varitek] and Jorge [Posada] and all those names came in. This is the game turning to the next generation, and I don't anticipate the games will be any less exciting or any less meaningful or a focal point."
It would help, certainly, if the Red Sox and the Yankees were competitive at the same time. The teams haven't made the playoffs in the same year since 2009, and unless the rebuilding Yankees make an unexpected late-season charge, that streak will go unbroken.
But when Benintendi came to the plate in the fifth inning against Yankees starter Luis Severino, it was a showdown of two of the most talented young players in either organization. Making his Fenway Park debut with his parents in the stands after getting called up during a West Coast trip last week, Benintendi turned around a 98-mph Severino heater and hit what everyone believed was his first major-league homer. That was until a video replay overturned the call, forcing Benintendi to settle for an RBI double.
"It's something I've dreamt of, not just since I've been drafted but since I was a little kid," Benintendi said of his home debut. "To walk into the stadium and take BP and things like that, especially here at Fenway, it's a dream come true."
Benintendi plays alongside Bradley, who has one of the best outfield arms in the majors. He showed it off in the seventh inning. With his momentum carrying him toward right field and Chase Headley already rounding second base, Bradley spun back and unleashed a one-hop throw on a perfect line to third.
"It was unbelievable," Red Sox starter Rick Porcello said. "In my mind, he's the best center fielder in the league, for sure. He's got an incredible arm."
Said Benintendi: "He's got an awesome arm. It's crazy."
Talk about crazy. As Headley, still stunned at being thrown out by Bradley, stood up and brushed off his pants, Porcello appeared to say something to him. Headley took exception, and pretty soon, the benches had cleared.
"I don't really have anything to comment on that," Porcello said. "That's baseball stuff. Happens down on the field and just going to let it stay there between me and Headley."
Told that Yankees manager Joe Girardi suggested Porcello believed Headley might be trying to steal signs, Porcello declined again to get into specifics.
"Joe can think whatever he wants," Porcello said. "That's, again, between me and Chase Headley. That's one of those moments where I felt like I needed to say something and I did. It's between me and him. He knows what I said, and we'll leave it at that."
Red Sox closer Craig Kimbrel walked four batters in the ninth inning and had to be replaced by Matt Barnes, who notched his first major-league save by striking out Mark Teixeira, another of the retiring stalwarts from the rivalry's past.
To the dismay of the Fenway crowd, A-Rod never got into the game -- he's scheduled to start Thursday night, Girardi said -- and David Ortiz bobbleheads never got handed out, a manufacturing glitch causing them to look "racially insensitive," according to Red Sox president Sam Kennedy.
For one game, though, the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry was entertaining again. With any luck, more of these will be on the way over the next few years.
