Sox-Yanks rivalry spills into Minors
Heathcott did not play Saturday, but the RiverDogs got home runs from J.R. Murphy, Ramon Flores, Kelvin De Leon and Kyle Roller as part of a 19-hit attack and outslugged the Drive, 17-7.
On Friday at Greenville's Fluor Field, Heathcott was hit behind the right shoulder on the second pitch of the game by Drive right-hander Miguel Celestino. Heathcott immediately turned and shoved RiverDogs catcher Christian Vazquez.
As the benches emptied, Vazquez threw three punches before Heathcott was intercepted by a member of the Drive.
Heathcott, Vazquez and pitchers Kelvin Perez of the RiverDogs and Garrett Rau of the Drive were ejected.
Heathcott was reportedly suspended for five games and fined an undisclosed amount for instigating the incident, according to nj.com. According to the site, Yankees senior vice president of baseball operations Mark Newman did not respond to a request to confirm the suspension or see if the organization is enforcing any additional discipline against Heathcott.
After order was restored, Charleston quickly grabbed a 2-0 lead en route to a 6-2 victory. Bryce Brentz was a bright spot for Greenville, slugging a two-run homer in the eighth inning to extend his hitting streak to a Minor League season-high 25 games.
The RiverDogs and Drive are the Class A South Atlantic League affiliates of the Yankees and Red Sox, respectively. Coincidentally, those ancient archrivals are meeting in a three-game weekend series at Yankee Stadium.
Like Heathcott, Brentz was not in the lineup for Saturday's game. Both watched Murphy, Flores and De Leon smack solo shots before Roller capped an eight-run ninth inning with a three-run blast.
Roller went 4-for-6 with three doubles and four runs scored, while RiverDogs leadoff man Eduardo Sosa contributed four hits, an RBI and a run scored.