Umpire Warning: Fair or Foul?

By KEN PLUTNICKI

As Ben Shpigel observed in his account of the Yankees’ 9-5 victory over Detroit Wednesday night, “Hostility reigned from the first pitch Jeremy Bonderman threw.”

The pitch plunked Brett Gardner in the right leg, perhaps in retaliation for his slide into second base on a double play on Monday night that wound up putting Carlos Guillen on the disabled list.

Barton Silverman/The New York Times The Tigers’ Miguel Cabrera, who had hit two home runs in the game, was hit by a pitch in the eighth inning Wednesday night.

As Johnny Damon was widely quoted after the game: “If anyone over there thought it was a clean slide, then we have a different opinion on that. It’s part of baseball. But I thought the slide was dirty, and I’m sure a lot of those guys would agree.”

After Gardner was hit, the home plate umpire, Eric Cooper, warned both benches.

Then, in a tense eighth inning, Yankees reliever Chad Gaudin hit Miguel Cabrera [video], who had homered twice in the game.

Cooper, however, did not throw anyone out, and Tigers Manager Jim Leyland was ejected for arguing that Gaudin should have been tossed.

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