Sunflower seeds, gum fly in a loss to high-flying A's

ATHLETICS 4, RAYS 3: A checked swing infuriates coaches and players during Oakland's ninth consecutive victory.

OAKLAND, Calif. - There was a tray of gum, a bucket of sunflower seeds and a plethora of expletives flying out of the Devil Rays dugout Sunday. When things quieted, the Rays were left with a frustrating 4-3 loss to Oakland and a nagging question of why what seems like a disproportionate number of calls go against them.

"It seems like we're playing the other team and the umpires sometimes," rightfielder Aubrey Huff said. "Some of the calls are just amazing."

There have been many this season, three or four during this three-game series alone. So many that manager Lou Piniella said he could argue at least one a day. But there might have been none as egregious as the one in the fifth inning Sunday - on something as simple as a checked swing - that led to a three-run rally for the A's and three ejections for the Rays.

"That check swing there, three blind mice could have called it. My Lord," Piniella said.

"That's as blatant a check-swing miss as I have ever seen, and I have been up here in the big leagues since 1969. That encompasses 34 years of major-league baseball."

The Rays led 3-1 in the fifth, thanks to a run-scoring single and two-run homer by Huff and a strong start by Jeremi Gonzalez, who had allowed one hit when things started flying.

After Erubiel Durazo drew a leadoff walk, Gonzalez went to a full count on Ramon Hernandez, and the Rays were sure he struck him out swinging.

Home plate umpire Andy Fletcher didn't believe so, and when the Rays appealed to first-base umpire Joe Brinkman, he didn't either.

"I don't see, first of all, how you can miss it from first base, and I really don't see how you even need help behind home plate calling it," Piniella said. "The guy spun around. The bat came all the way across the hitting zone. If he'd have hit it, he would have hit it out of the damn coliseum."

Said Huff: "I think everybody in the park knew he struck out except the guy at first."

Brinkman wouldn't address the play. Manager Ken Macha and Hernandez were predictably coy.

"I don't know," Hernandez said. "When you check your swing, all you do is wait for the call."

The Rays didn't wait to react. A tray of gum came flying out of the dugout and littered the field. It appeared to some that Piniella kicked it, but hitting coach Lee Elia stepped out of the dugout, claimed responsibility and was ejected.

Piniella was on the field arguing when usually mild-mannered bench coach John McLaren came charging out and went face to face with Brinkman for several heated minutes, leading to his ejection.

"There was something thrown out of the dugout, and we didn't really have who threw it," Brinkman said. "I told Lou whoever threw it, have that person leave and we'd be fine with it. Otherwise, he'd have to go. Then Elia said he kicked it on the field. Then McLaren started yelling, so I ejected him."

Gonzalez said the disruption didn't bother him, but the A's said, and the results showed, it did.

"It's obvious it got in the pitcher's head because he started missing his spots," Hernandez said.

Terrence Long singled up the middle to load the bases, and Frank Menechino chopped a ball to the left side that scored a run when shortstop Julio Lugo couldn't make a play.

Chris Singleton's sacrifice fly plated the tying run, and one out later, ex-Ray Jose Guilen's double made it 4-3 leading to Oakland's ninth consecutive victory.

The Rays had a chance to tie in the eighth when Carl Crawford was thrown out trying to score on an errant pitch with one out, but the Rays were convinced the game was lost in the fifth - with help from the umpires.

"That play cost us the game," catcher Javier Valentin said. "One play, one at-bat, we lost the game. It's not fair. We're a big-league team, too."

Gonzalez waited until he was done pitching eight innings to have his say, screaming at Brinkman from the front of the dugout then throwing a large bucket of sunflower seed packets onto the field to earn his ejection.

"We just want to have the umpires sometimes with us," he said.

Piniella stayed away from any generalizations about the umpires except to say, "I guess when you're hot, these are the things that go your way."

He was too irate about the specifics of the day.

"They worry so much about Questone (Questec, a computerized system) and whatever the hell else there is to worry about, how about just getting the rudimentary, fundamental plays right and everybody will be pleased," Piniella said. "That's all you're asking for."