Orioles center fielder Adam Jones claims racist taunts in Boston

Mass. mayor calls fans' actions 'shameful;' Red Sox president apologizes

BOSTONOrioles center fielder Adam Jones said he was taunted with racial slurs at Fenway Park during Baltimore's game against the Boston Red Sox.

Jones, who is black, said someone in the crowd threw a bag of peanuts at him Monday night. He said he has been the subject of racist heckling in Boston's ballpark before, but this was one of the worst cases of fan abuse he has heard in his 12-year career, according to USA Today Sports.

The five-time All-Star said he was "called the N-word a handful of times" in quotes reported by USA Today Sports and The Boston Globe.

"It's unfortunate that people need to resort to those type of epithets to degrade another human being," Jones said.

USA Today Sports reported that Red Sox officials confirmed that a fan threw a bag of peanuts at Jones and was ejected from the stadium.

"It's pathetic," Jones said. "It's called a coward. What they need to do is that instead of kicking them out of the stadium, they need to fine them 10 grand, 20 grand, 30 grand. Something that really hurts somebody."

The Orioles' 5-2 victory marked the latest testy game between the AL East rivals this season, including a dustup in Baltimore just more than a week ago.

In the teams' previous meeting at Camden Yards, Boston reliever Matt Barnes sent a pitch that whizzed behind Manny Machado's head and hit the slugger's bat. Barnes was suspended four games and fined.

Machado had rankled the Red Sox with a late slide into second baseman Dustin Pedroia's left leg two days earlier. Pedroia missed a handful of games.

Orioles pitcher Dylan Bundy hit Mookie Betts near the left hip with a fastball Monday night, prompting loud boos.

Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker took to Twitter on Wednesday to call fans' behavior "unacceptable & shameful. This is not what Massachusetts & Boston are about."

Red Sox president Sam Kennedy apologized to Jones and the Orioles in a statement.

"No player should have an object thrown at him on the playing field, nor be subjected to any kind of racism at Fenway Park," Kennedy said. "The Red Sox have zero tolerance for such inexcusable behavior, and our entire organization and our fans are sickened by the conduct of an ignorant few."