ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Manny Ramirez said he patched things up with a Boston Red Sox employee he reportedly shoved to the ground during an argument, and the club said the matter is over.

The Providence Journal reported today that Ramirez pushed traveling secretary Jack McCormick in the visitors' clubhouse Saturday in Houston after McCormick told Ramirez that he might not be able to come up with the 16 tickets the player requested for that night's game.

The two met behind closed doors, the newspaper said, and Ramirez apologized to McCormick.

"Whatever happens in the clubhouse stays in the clubhouse," Ramirez said before tonight's game against the Tampa Bay Rays. "I talked to him and everything is fine. He's going to continue being my friend. It's over with."

Manager Terry Francona said the matter was handled internally, and Ramirez was in the lineup Monday night, batting in his customary cleanup spot.

"When things happen with us, we take things really seriously and hopefully we deal with things respectfully to all parties. But we also do it internally," Francona said.

"That's not trying to evade a question, it's telling you how we feel about it. This is something that actually happened between friends, and it was handled."

Asked if he considered the incident closed, the manager did not use that word.

"I've already talked with every one I need to, like we always do. ... It's been dealt with, if that's what you're asking," Francona said.

Teammate David Ortiz agreed with Ramirez's assessment that what goes on in the clubhouse should stay there.

"That's something that I don't want to get involved with. I wasn't here when it happened," Ortiz said. "We are a family. We deal with things. We have a good team with good chemistry."

Tonight's game between Boston and Tampa Bay was first between the AL East rivals since a benches-clearing brawl at Fenway Park on June 5. That same night TV cameras showed Ramirez and teammate Kevin Youkilis being separated after exchanging words in the dugout at the end of an inning.

The following day Ramirez declared the brief spat "in the past."