CLEVELAND -- White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen could face a suspension after ripping umpire Joe West for ejecting him and starting pitcher Mark Buehrle for arguing two balk calls in Chicago's 5-4 victory.
Guillen was tossed in the second inning Wednesday by first-base umpire West, who moments earlier called the first balk against Buehrle. The left-hander protested the call and had words with West before Guillen came out to defend his pitcher.
West then threw out Guillen, who dropped his sunglasses and lineup card on the track as he left the field.
Asked why he was thrown out, Guillen said: "Because he's a [expletive], that's what he is. I just went out to ask him. I wasn't asking about the balk because you're not allowed, anytime you go out there to ask about balk or whatever. The thing I went out to ask him about was why he was embarrassing Buehrle. I'm not going out to argue about the balk because of the rule, but I went out to ask him why he's embarrassing Buehrle, and he gives me one of this [dismissing him with his hands]."
Through a pool reporter, West refuted Guillen's accusation that West was embarrassing Buehrle.
"He didn't say that to me," West said. "I don't know what he's talking about. Ozzie came out because Buehrle was making gestures on the mound that could have got him kicked out so he was protecting Buehrle, that's all he was doing. I don't have a problem with that. ... [Buehrle] threw his glove. There wasn't that much to it, was there?"
In the third, Buehrle was called for a second balk by West and slammed his glove to the ground before he was thrown out. Buehrle had to be restrained by several teammates and bench coach Joey Cora. He was replaced by Randy Williams.
White Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski wasn't surprised by Buehrle's ejection.
"Mark threw his glove a little bit so that's why he got the heave-ho," Pierzynski said on "The Afternoon Saloon" on ESPN 1000. "At that point, I think there was nothing Mark could do except get tossed.
"You don't want to see a guy get ejected, especially a starting pitcher but after what had happened and the way things were going that was the only recourse that Mark had to try to stand up for himself I guess."
Guillen complained about West's perceived lack of respect for the manager and the players.
"When you're a professional and you have to respect the managers, the way we're supposed to respect the umpires, they are supposed to respect back," Guillen said. "Sometimes he thinks [expletive] people pay to watch him [expletive] umpire. He's the type of guy that wants to control the game. It's good for the game, and to me one of the best umpires in the game, no doubt. But in the meanwhile, those years are on his shoulders and kind of heavy and showing people who he is. I deserve respect and the players here deserve respect here, too.
"When you tell the manager to get the [expletive] off the field, I don't think that's a good way to handle situations. No matter what you say, what you do, how long you talk here, Major League Baseball doesn't do [expletive] for anything. I'll be waiting for my fine."
Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.