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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
MONDAY, APRIL 29, 2013
MLB
PAGE 7B
Price argues with umpire in victory over White Sox
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CHICAGO - David Price had more problems with the home plate umpire than he had with the Chicago White Sox.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
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The 2012 American League Cy Young Award winner accused Tom Hallion of using an expletive after price threw his last pitch of his first win of the season, the Tampa Bay Rays' 8-3 victory over the Chicago White Sox on Sunday.
Hallion called Price a liar.
Facing his last batter of the game in the seventh inning, Price took a step toward the dugout after he thought he threw strike three to Dewayne Wise. After Price retired Wise on a comebacker, Price and Hallion exchanged words as Price walked to the dugout.
Hallion vehemently denied Price's claim.
"I'll come right out bluntly and say he's a liar," Hallion told a pool reporter. "I said, 'just throw the ball.' That's all I said to him."
Hallion, the crew chief, walked toward Price as the two appeared to be yelling at each other. "It was a perfect pitch. It is. I really don't know why he (Wise) swung at the next one, because it was in the exact same spot," Price said. "I'm walking off the mound I'm just mad at myself. I didn't say a single word or look at him. He (Hallion) yells at me."
Price disagreed and teammate Jeremy Hellickson, standing along the dugout railing, did as well. Hellickson was tossed after shouting at Hallion from the dugout.
"My own dad doesn't speak to me that way." Price added.
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"He was told to knock it off, him and Morse (Matt Moore) were at the dugout rail and I told them to knock it off," Hallion said, "and he thought it was OK for him to have his final comment, at which time he was ejected."
Rays manager Joe Maddon was surprised that the mild-mannered Hellickson was thrown out even though Maddon didn't hear the exchange.
"He's one of the most vociferous players on our team. He finally had an umpire get him," Maddon
joked. "It definitely led to the victory. Everybody was pumped up at that point."
Price took to Twitter afterward to continue to press his point.
"1. I am not a liar 2. I would not make that stuff up 3. My own dad doesn't speak to me that way 4. Again I am not a liar (hash)accountability" he tweeted.
The postgame spat overshadowed a fine performance for Price. He allowed three runs and six hits, striking out nine in seven innings. The Rays lost all five of Price's five previous starts this year and were the second team to lose in the first five starts by a reigning Cy Young winner. The Minnesota Twins lost in Frank Viola's first seven games in 1989.
Price (1-2) walked two and threw 119 pitches but finally he got support from his offense.
After Hellickson was ejected, the Rays rallied in the eighth. Ben Zobrist hit a go-ahead RBI single in a three-run innning spurred by Alex Rios' error.
Jose Lobaton and Matt Joyce each homered for Tampa Bay, which improved to 4-9 on the road. Paul Konerko hit a two-run home run for Chicago, who are 1-5 against lefthanded starters.
Sean Rodriguez led off the eighth with a single off White Sox reliever Nate Jones (0-2) and advanced to second on a wild pitch. One out later, he scored on Zobrist's single to break a 3-all tie. With two outs and bases loaded, Ryan Roberts hit a shallow fly to right, Rios came charging in, but he had the ball pop out of his glove, allowing two runs to score and giving the Rays a 6-3 lead.
"It's one of those things that are going to happen occasionally, but if we're going to get on an extended run of playing well you got to make those plays," said White Sox manager Robin Ventura.
White Sox starter Dylan Axelrod allowed three runs and four hits in six innings. He struck out three and walked one, but he was doomed by the home runs from Lobaton and Joyce.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Tampa Bay Rays starting pitcher David Price yellies in the dugout after exchanging words with home plate umpire Tom Hallion during the seventh inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox in Chicago on Sunday. Tampa Bay won 8-3.
MLB
Kershaw and Crawford carry Dodgers to win against Brewers
ASSOCIATED PRESS
LOS ANGELES — Clayton Kershaw retired 18 consecutive batters and struck out 12 in eight dominant innings, Carl Crawford homered twice against Kyle Lohse and the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Milwaukee Brewers 2-0 on Sunday.
Kershaw (3-2) scattered four hits and didn't walk a batter while lowering his ERA to 1.73. The 2011 Cy Young Award winner, who led theNL in ERA in each of the previous two seasons, hasn't allowed more than three earned runs in any of his last 18 starts — the longest active streak in the majors. The last time he did was July 24, 2012, when he gave up eight at St. Louis.
Kershaw stranded runners in scoring position in each of the first
two innings, retiring Jonathan Lucroy on a double-play grounder in the first and striking out Martin Maldonado to end the second. He gave up a leadoff double in the eighth to Carlos Gomez, who tried to advance on a broken-bat comebacker to Kershaw and was tagged out by third baseman Juan Uribe in a rundown.
Kershaw's string of consecutive outs began after Rickie Weeks' bloop double leading off the second.
Milwaukee's only other hits were one-out singles in the first by Jean Segura and Ryan Braun.
Kershaw began the season with 4-0 and 1-0 wins over San Francisco and Pittsburgh, allowing no runs over 16 innings.
Brandon League pitched a perfect ninth inning for his eighth save in
Crawford drove Lohse's first pitch of the game over the center field fence. It was the fourth time that the right-hander gave up a home run to his first batter in 336 career starts — and the first one that came on his very first pitch. Crawford's second homer came on an 0-2 count and landed in the right field pavilion. It was his sixth multihomer game in the majors and first since July 8, 2010, for the Tampa Bay Rays against Cleveland's lake Westbrook.
nine chances.
Lohse (1-2) gave up five hits and no walks while striking out four. The 13-year veteran had allowed only one home run in 25 innings over his first four starts for the Brewers, who signed him to a three-year, $33 million contract as a free agent on March 25.