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One of baseball’s unwritten rules reared its ugly head Sunday in Tampa.

Yunel Escobar, shortstop for the Tampa Bay Rays, decided to steal third base with an 8-3 lead over the Boston Red Sox in the bottom of the seventh inning.

Seems harmless, right?

Not in Major League Baseball. Even though I’d argue the game was still competitive and the Red Sox were still within range of a comeback, Boston’s players apparently didn’t agree.

They took offense to Escobar’s stolen base, thinking he was trying to run up the score with his baserunning. They saw the act as disrespectful. So Boston catcher David Ross began to holler at Escobar, and eventually, both benches would empty onto the field.

(Also read: Two restaurants in the Atlanta suburbs you have to try)

If Escobar and Ross sound familiar to Braves fans, it’s because they’re both former Braves. Not only that, they’re former Braves teammates.

Ross and Escobar were in Atlanta for the entire 2009 season and shared the bench for part of the 2010 campaign as well, until Escobar was traded to the Toronto Blue Jays. Now, they’re divisional foes, and they don’t seem to have much camaraderie anymore.

The video of the skirmish is below. Another thing to keep in mind – the Red Sox have now lost 10 consecutive games and have the second-worst record in the American League. There’s no doubt they’re irritable these days, because they aren’t winning.

Nothing a little four-game series with Atlanta can’t solve; That series begins today (Monday).

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