Crisp: No hard feelings; Papelbon not so sure June skirmish is history.

Byline: Paul Jarvey

COLUMN: RED SOX NOTES

BOSTON - There's a history of unpleasantness between the Red Sox and Rays, the most recent skirmish coming on June 5 when Coco Crisp charged the mound after being hit by a James Shields pitch.

Crisp, who had drawn the ire of the Rays the night before with a hard slide into second base, complained after the bench-clearing brawl that the Tampa Bay players were scratching him, pulling his hair and punching like girls.

Now, he thinks the hard feelings are over.

"Things just happened, for a couple of days, it was just that series, and it doesn't seem like anything's happened since then," Crisp said. "That is what it is. I made statements that I've gotten into arguments, altercations, with my close friends still today, and we're still close friends. You get over it. It just so happens this was televised, not the other ones. I don't hold grudges about too many things."

Crisp still gets booed every time his name is announced at Tropicana Field.

That wasn't the only fight between these two clubs. There has been bad blood for years.

Sox manager Terry Francona thinks these games are too important for any funny stuff to happen, but closer Jonathan Papelbon, who said during the season that the hard feelings aren't necessarily over, isn't so certain that things have settled down.

"There could be something that starts it back up," he said. "You know how these things are, they linger all year."

Disadvantage on turf

The Red Sox could play four games in Tropicana Field this series, and they haven't performed well in domes, on artificial turf, and in this park in particular.

The Sox were just 1-8 at the Trop, 7-18 on turf.

"I used to think it was fairly obvious," Francona said. "When we were slower and we would get on turf, it was Toronto, Minnesota, teams that could run and we couldn't. We were at a disadvantage. I don't feel that way anymore. We're built differently, but our record is not very good. I'm hoping that's going to change."

Javy Lopez said he doesn't like playing at the Trop because he's a sinkerball pitcher and the ball squirts through the infield. He does like being in a dome when it's 90 degrees outside.

Jed Lowrie thinks the infield isn't as quick as some other turf fields, though. He said the turf is a little slower and the Trop has dirt in the infield, just like parks with grass.

"It's still a little bit of an adjustment because the ball bounces a little different than natural grass," he said.

Scouting reveals tendencies

The Sox have played the Rays 18 times this season with six of those games coming just last month, so how much help do scouting reports provide? Plenty, according to players.

"It will add a lot of information to little parts of the game," Lowrie said. "Not that we know what to expect, but there have been tendencies that might've happened during the year. I remember last year when Papelbon picked off (the Rockies' Matt) Holliday in the World Series. A little play like that where every out means so much in the playoffs, if you can get an out there or there, it helps."

Papelbon said scouting reports help him know what adjustments hitters have made recently.

Francona lauds Rays

If the Rays are looking for bulletin board material from the Red Sox, they won't get it from Francona. He had nothing but praise for Tampa Bay yesterday.

"It shouldn't be a surprise (after) 162 games and a playoff series that they're good," he said. "It's a great story for baseball. It made our life a little bit more miserable this year.

"If you look at their team from top to bottom there really shouldn't be a surprise," Francona added. "They have a very good, very healthy starting rotation. They have a deep bullpen. They're able to match up, they have power. Their starters got them deep enough where they didn't wear out their bullpen. They catch the ball better than any team in the league and offensively they have gotten contributions from everybody.

"How many times do you turn on the TV and see somebody hitting a walk-off home run or somebody got hurt and somebody else picked it up? They have a real good thing going. Our job will be to derail that."

Diamond Dust

The Red Sox worked out at Fenway Park yesterday before flying to Tampa in the afternoon. ... The Rays have their Mohawks and Sox relievers now have their playoff beards. Lopez said there is some concern, though, because Justin Masterson's beard is so light. ... Julio Lugo, who has been out since July with a torn quadriceps, has been working hard to get back, but Francona doesn't believe it will happen. "I think it's been too long," he said.

NAME: BOSTON RED SOX 

ART: PHOTO

PHOTOG: THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

CUTLINE: Boston's Coco Crisp, he of the right cross back in June, says he isn't holding any grudges.