Sturtze, Devil Rays Shoved Around

Tanyon Sturtze took the blame for his dugout spat with Tampa Bay Manager Hal McRae.

McRae shoved Sturtze in the dugout after the pitcher was pulled from the game and the Devil Rays went on to lose, 8-5, in 12 innings to the Chicago White Sox on Friday night at St. Petersburg, Fla.

Sturtze was lifted after five innings with a 5-3 lead. He was sitting in the dugout when McRae came over to talk with him. Sturtze appeared to brush McRae as he got up to walk away, then pushed over two water coolers.

The second water cooler bounced off the dugout floor and hit McRae in the leg.

McRae caught up to Sturtze and shoved him in the back as the pitcher was heading toward the clubhouse tunnel.

The two met in McRae’s office after the game, and afterward Sturtze took full responsibility for the incident.

“He had every right to shove me,” Sturtze said. “I acted in a very unprofessional way. It’s me being frustrated. It has nothing to do with Hal. It’s totally my fault.”

McRae called the matter a nonevent.

“It’s a non-issue for me,” McRae said. “We’re OK with each other. Everything is OK.”

Sturtze, who is 1-11 this season, gave up three runs and eight hits in five innings, striking out two. He walked one, hit two batters with pitches in the fourth and got a no-decision.

“I thought he needed to come out,” McRae said. “He ran a high pitch count (99). He was in jams. I was trying to win a baseball game.”

The Devil Rays have led in 16 of Sturtze’s 23 starts. In 151 2/3 innings, he has given up 186 hits and 67 walks. He led the AL in both categories coming into the game.

Aaron Rowand had an RBI double off Jesus Colome (2-6) to give the White Sox a 6-5 lead in the 12th. Two runs were added when Magglio Ordonez was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded and Frank Thomas walked on four pitches.

Seattle 3, Cleveland 1--Bret Boone homered for the third consecutive game to help Jamie Moyer win his third consecutive decision as the Mariners won at Seattle.

The Mariners (68-42) moved a season-high 26 games over .500 with their longest winning streak since June 25-29.

Edgar Martinez also homered for the Mariners in the rematch of last year’s first-round playoff matchup.

Detroit 3, Oakland 1--Mark Redman outpitched Barry Zito at the Coliseum, where the Athletics’ ace hadn’t lost a regular-season game in 14 months, as the Tigers ended a five-game losing streak.

Redman (7-9) pitched seven innings of six-hit ball, striking out five and working out of a bases-loaded jam in the seventh.

Zito’s Oakland-record streak of 16 consecutive victories at home ended, but Miguel Tejada extended his hitting streak to 22 games--the longest in the AL this season.

Minnesota 2, Kansas City 1--Rick Reed and four relievers combined on a four-hitter, and Jacque Jones hit a leadoff homer as the Twins won at Minneapolis.

Reed (9-5) gave up four hits and one run in six-plus innings. Second baseman Luis Rivas made a diving catch of Carlos Febles’ liner to thwart a seventh-inning threat.

LaTroy Hawkins and Johan Santana combined to strike out the side in the eighth, and Eddie Guardado pitched a hitless ninth for his 33rd save.

Baltimore 9, Toronto 8--Gary Matthews Jr. hit a three-run homer off closer Kelvim Escobar (5-6) in the ninth inning as the Orioles rallied from a seven-run deficit to win at Toronto.

Down 8-1 in the fifth, the Orioles scored two in the sixth, three in the seventh and three in the ninth.