Shelley Duncan shouldn’t expect any pleasantries next time the Yankees face the Tampa Bay Rays.
Rays manager Joe Maddon ripped Duncan for his spikes-high slide into Rays second baseman Akinori Iwamura on Wednesday, which caused both benches to clear. Duncan’s left spike made contact with the inside of Iwamura’s right knee.
“What you saw is the definition of a dirty play,” Maddon said. “There is no room for that in our game. It’s contemptible, it’s wrong, it’s borderline criminal, and I cannot believe they did that.”
Maddon said Duncan should “absolutely” be suspended.
Tensions have been escalating between the Yankees and Rays since Saturday, when the Rays’ Elliot Johnson plowed into Yankees catcher Francisco Cervelli at home plate.
Cervelli underwent surgery Wednesday for a broken right wrist and is expected to be out 10 weeks.
Yankees manager Joe Girardi denounced the Johnson play as “unnecessary” in a spring training game, an idea Maddon rejected.
