Tempers Boil Over Again Between Pirates and Brewers

by Pat LackeyFiled under: Brewers, Pirates, NL CentralIt's hard to think of a more one-sided "rivalry" in sports than the one currently contested between the Pirates and the Brewers. Before the Pirates' 8-5 win last night, the Brewers had taken 17 straight games between the two teams, dating back to May 22nd of last season. Somehow (or maybe because of the losing streak, though the Pirates rarely seem to be the initiating team) a lot of bad blood has boiled up between the two teams, and it came to a head (again) last night in the eighth inning. Last night's mini-altercation started when Brewers' reliever Chris Smith beaned Pirates' reliever Jeff Karstens. Karstens, you may recall, beaned Ryan Braun back in May, which sent Braun over the edge and lead to some ridiculous and vague threates that never materialized. So Karstens got the message last night and started walking towards Smith, when he was intercepted by Jason Kendall, who appeared to point to fi...