Source: Lackey fined for hitting Cervelli

According to a major league source, Red Sox pitcher John Lackey was fined an undisclosed amount for hitting Yankees catcher Francisco Cervelli with a pitch in the seventh inning of New York's 5-2 win over the Sox Tuesday night at Fenway Park.

Both benches cleared following the pitch by Lackey, who had been touched up for a home run off the bat of Cervelli two innings earlier. After hitting the homer, the Yanks' backstop appeared to draw ire from the Red Sox after clapping his hands upon touching home plate. 

After the game, Lackey denied that the seventh-inning fastball was intentionally thrown at Cervelli's back.

"I was definitely not trying to hit him," Lackey said. "I was trying to knock him down for sure. You can go look to see where he stands in the box. You got to get him off the plate a little bit. I threw a 3-1 pitch that he hit out. I definitely wasn’t trying to hit him but I was definitely trying to move him back. You don’t want to put a baserunner on in a two-run ballgame."

Lackey did, however, clearly take issue with Cervelli's extra enthusiasm after hitting the home run.

"He was pumped for that ninth home run of his career, yeah," Lackey said. Informed it was actually his third, Lackey responded, "Somebody told me that. I don’t even know."

For more on the incident involving Cervelli, click here. [1] For more Red Sox news, go to the team page at weei.com/redsox [2].