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Well, that escalated quickly and apparently de-escalated just as fast. One day after Boston Red Sox radio broadcaster Will Flemming called Yankees second baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. a “bush league player” and suggested pitcher Jovani Morán should drill Austin Wells, Flemming has apologized for allowing the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry to get the best of him. As The Source reported in our original story, the fireworks started during the eighth inning of New York’s 16-1 demolition of Boston on Sunday at Yankee Stadium. With the Yankees leading 7-1, Chisholm stole second and then third after Boston elected not to hold him on base. Read The Source’s original report on the Chisholm controversy Flemming wasn’t feeling Jazz’s interpretation of playing until the final out. “Wouldn’t you sort of like to see Morán drill Wells right here?” Flemming asked on the WEEI broadcast before calling Chisholm “a bush league player” and saying he “plays the game the wrong way.” Three pitches later, Wells offered perhaps the most effective rebuttal available in baseball: he hit a two-run homer. By Monday, Flemming acknowledged that his commentary had gone too far. “Since I have been receiving nonstop calls and threats, I felt like it was important to hop back on here and say: My comments during yesterday’s broadcast crossed a line,” Flemming wrote on X. “I’m emotional and a fan at heart and that bled into the broadcast.” Flemming followed by saying he meant no disrespect toward the Yankees organization or its players and admitted he “could and should have used different words,” blaming the intensity of the rivalry for getting caught up in the moment. To be fair, former Red Sox third baseman Will Middlebrooks offered the more traditional baseball argument during the broadcast. With Boston no longer holding Chisholm, Middlebrooks viewed the decision as the Red Sox waving the proverbial white flag and called Jazz’s decision to continue running “selfish.” But suggesting that Wells should wear one because Chisholm stole a couple of uncontested bases took the conversation somewhere else. Especially considering what happened next. Wells homered twice during a nine-run eighth inning, Paul Goldschmidt and José Caballero also went deep, and what had been a 7-1 game when Jazz started running eventually became a 16-1 Bronx beatdown. So Flemming apologized, the Yankees won three of four from Boston, and Chisholm walked away with stolen bases No. 39 and 40. As for Austin Wells? Apparently he didn’t need anybody fighting his battles. He brought his bat.