It’s a bad day for Bradley and Padres

SAN DIEGO -- A wild-card race that was already wild turned absolutely bizarre Sunday, and Milton Bradley was right in the middle of it for the San Diego Padres.

Bradley was ejected and then hurt his right knee when Padres Manager Bud Black spun him to the ground to keep him from going after an umpire.

The Padres were livid, claiming that first base umpire Mike Winters baited Bradley in the eighth inning, leading to a confrontation that overshadowed the surging Colorado Rockies’ 7-3 victory and an impressive three-game sweep of the wild card-leading Padres.

Bradley called it “the most unprofessional and most ridiculous thing I’ve ever seen.”

“It’s terrible. And now, because of him, my knee’s hurt,” said Bradley, who was in his third game back from an injury that sidelined him for nearly two weeks. “If this costs me my season because of that, he needs to be reprimanded. I’m taking some action. I’m not going to stand pat and accept this because I didn’t do nothing wrong.”

The incident apparently stemmed from home-plate umpire Brian Runge’s belief that Bradley flipped his bat toward him after Bradley struck out looking in the fifth inning. After singling in the eighth, Bradley said he asked Winters if he told Runge he threw his bat. Bradley said the argument escalated into a string of expletives from Winters. Winters was unavailable for comment.

The Padres retained their half-game lead over Philadelphia in the wild-card race, while the Rockies pulled within 1 1/2 games by winning their season-high eighth in a row. San Diego stayed 2 1/2 games behind Arizona in the West.