Red Sox's Lugo, Francona ejected

5/27/2008 11:19 PM

SEATTLE (AP) -Boston shortstop Julio Lugo and manager Terry Francona were ejected in the fifth inning of Tuesday night's game against Seattle.

With Boston trailing 3-0, third-base umpire Angel Hernandez ruled a check swing by Seattle's Raul Ibanez in the bottom of the fifth inning to be no swing against David Aardsma.

Lugo, standing about 40 feet to the umpire's left at his fielding position, apparently said something in the direction of Hernandez - judging by Hernandez's reaction of looking at, yelling at and then ejecting Lugo from afar.

Lugo then raced over to confront Hernandez, repeatedly yelling ``What did I do?'' and pacing around the veteran umpire of 15 years.

Francona jogged from the dugout into short left field to separate his player from Hernandez with two hands on Lugo's shoulders. Then, Francona turned to demand an explanation from Hernandez, who was mostly shaking his head, smirking and chomping on his bubble gum. After Lugo retreated to the top step of the dugout to continue berating Hernandez from a distance and throwing his arms up, Francona pointed an index finger into Hernandez's face from about 5 feet away. That was when Hernandez ejected him.

Hernandez was the plate umpire Monday night in Boston's 5-3 victory. He called many strikes against both teams in a fast-paced game.

It was the first ejection of the season for both Francona and Lugo.