ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Brian Daubach hyperextended his left elbow during a brawl between the Red Sox and Tampa Bay Devil Rays and flew to Boston for more tests that could determine how long he might be out of the lineup.

	Daubach

"It's not a fracture. That's all I know," the first baseman said Wednesday before leaving the visiting clubhouse at Tropicana Field, where the Red Sox concluded a three-game series. "I don't have anything to say today. I'll talk to you guys in Boston."

Daubach was injured Tuesday night when he entered a pile of players during a bench-clearing brawl that broke out after Pedro Martinez hit leadoff man Gerald Williams with his fourth pitch of the game.

It was unclear how Daubach was hurt, but the Devil Rays complained that he threw some cheap shots during the scuffle and targeted him for retaliation.

Tampa Bay starter Dave Eiland was ejected in the third inning for hitting Daubach and Nomar Garciaparra. Relievers Cory Lidle and Tony Fiore were tossed during the first baseman's at-bat in the seventh.

Lidle threw behind Daubach. Fiore threw inside on his first pitch, then hit him with his second.

"For some unknown reason they singled out Daubach. I don't know why they would do that. He just came in the pile to break it up," said third baseman Lou Merloni, who was hospitalized overnight after sustaining a mild concussion during a pileup.

"You've got a guy charging Pedro Martinez. You do everything you possibly can to prevent them. He just came in to try to get him out of it. ... I didn't see any cheap shots."

Merloni also missed Wednesday's game, but hopes to return to the lineup Friday when the Red Sox open a weekend series against Seattle at Fenway Park. He said he had a headache and stiff neck, but was more concerned about the affect losing Daubach would have on the team.

Daubach, whose status is day to day, is hitting .262 with 20 homers and 71 RBI. He has hit safely in 11 of his last 14 games, batting .346 during the stretch.

"The bottom line is we've got a very important part of our team that could be out for a while," Merloni said. "The bottom line is the club's losing out on something that never should have happened in the first place."

Eight Devil Rays, including manager Larry Rothschild, two coaches and five players, were ejected in the first seven innings of the game.

General manager Chuck LaMar said videotape showing several different angles of the first-inning brawl had been shipped to Frank Robinson, baseball's disciplinarian, adding that the club didn't feel Daubach handled himself in a "professional" manner.

"If Daubach doesn't jump in, nothing happens," said first base coach Jose Cardenal, one of the Devil Rays ejected.