No-strike calls lead to Maddon, Gardenhire ejections

Neither losing manager in Thursday's's ALDS games was around to see the final out.

The Rays' Joe Maddon and the Twins' Ron Gardenhire were ejected after disputing ball-strike calls that preceded game-changing plays. Both got the heave-ho after visiting the mound and expressing their displeasure with the umpires.

In St. Petersburg, Fla., Maddon was tossed by plate umpire Jim Wolf in the fifth inning. One pitch after first-base ump Jerry Meals ruled that Michael Young checked his swing on a 2-and-2 pitch, Young hit a three-run homer to give the Rangers a 5-0 lead.

After Young's home run, Maddon left the dugout to talk with reliever Chad Qualls. Maddon yelled at Meals from the mound and argued with Wolf when the umpire went to the mound.

Last night in Minneapolis, Gardenhire met a similar fate. The Twins' manager was ejected for arguing balls and strikes in the seventh. Carl Pavano appeared to have Lance Berkman struck out on a 1-and-2 pitch on the inside corner, but Hunter Wendelstedt called it a ball. On the next pitch, Berkman hit a long double that put the Yankees ahead 3-2.

Gardenhire visited Pavano on the mound and lingered, so Wendelstedt came out to hurry things along. Gardenhire barked at Wendelstedt on his way back to the dugout and was tossed.

It's at least the fourth time Wendelstedt has ejected Gardenhire during his managerial career. Gardenhire was suspended for a game in 2005 after a profanity-laced rant to reporters about Wendelstedt after an ejection.

Maddon and Gardenhire became the 15th and 16th managers to be ejected from a postseason game and the first since Tony La Russa in 2005, according to research by STATS LLC.

With AP