Thursday, June 20, 2002
Padres 3, Red Sox 2
The Associated Press
SAN DIEGO — Frank Castillo lost his cool, got ejected and stepped on an umpire's foot with his spikes moments after allowing a key hit to Julius Matos.
Matos, a 27-year-old rookie, doubled in the go-ahead run with one out in the seventh inning and the San Diego Padres won 3-2 Wednesday night over the Boston Red Sox, who have baseball's best record.
Castillo was ejected a few moments later, still fuming over a balk call that moved Tom Lampkin into scoring position just before the double.
After the ball came back into the infield, Castillo yelled at Welke and was ejected. Castillo rushed Welke and made contact, and Welke jumped back. Castillo had to be restrained and then pushed away by teammates.
“He was arguing the fact I called the balk,” Welke said. “He came toward me. He was angry, saying that was my run, and I ejected him for arguing the balk.
“His foot stepped on my foot. He actually spiked me pretty good,” Welke said.
“I accidentally stepped on him,” Castillo said. “Clearly unintentional. His foot got in the way. Hopefully I don't get suspended for that. He made it look worse than it was.”
Three of the four umpires called the balk.
“It was a start-and-stop,” Welke said.
Castillo (5-7) disagreed.
“I just know I didn't balk,” he said. “In the heat of the battle, a tie ballgame, he's going to come out of left field and make a call like that? I was pretty mad. I told him he missed the call. It changed the complexion of the game. They don't came to see him umpire, they come to see us play.”
With the score tied at 1, Lampkin hit a one-out single to center. Castillo was called for the balk, and reacted angrily, stepping off the mound and saying something to Welke. With Lampkin on second, Matos doubled to left-center.
Matos' contract was purchased from Triple-A Portland on May 30 after third baseman Sean Burroughs was put on the disabled list.
“I've been getting a lot of opportunities to play, with the injuries and whatnot,” said Matos, who spent the previous eight seasons in the minors. “Being a rookie, I want to take advantage of every opportunity I get. I want to make it easier for management to keep putting me out there because they trust and believe that I can do something to help them win.”
Casey Fossum replaced Castillo and walked pinch-hitter Trenidad Hubbard. Mark Kotsay followed with an RBI single, the only hit of the night in 16 at bats for the top four batters in San Diego's lineup.
Brett Tomko (4-5) got his first win since May 13, ending a skid in which he had three losses and three no-decisions. The Padres lost all six of his previous starts. Tomko allowed one run on five hits in seven innings, struck out four and walked none.
Trevor Hoffman pitched the ninth for his 19th save in as many opportunities. It was his 26th straight, the best streak in the majors.
He gave up a leadoff triple to Shea Hillenbrand, who was scored on a groundout by Nomar Garciaparra.
Castillo allowed three runs and four hits in 6 1-3 innings, walked four and struck out two.
Boston took a 1-0 lead in the third on Rickey Henderson's sacrifice fly to score Doug Mirabelli, who hit a leadoff double.
San Diego tied it in the bottom of the fourth on Lampkin's RBI single following consecutive one-out walks.
Notes: Pedro Martinez (7-2, 3.18) will start the series finale against San Diego on Thursday night, facing the Padres for the first time since 1997, when he was with Montreal. Martinez is 6-2 with a 3.42 ERA lifetime against San Diego. He'll make his first start in San Diego since 1996. On June 3, 1995, Martinez became only the second pitcher in history to take a perfect game into extra innings, but he allowed a leadoff double in the 10th inning to Bip Roberts in the Expos' 1-0 victory at San Diego. ... Bobby Jones (5-4, 5.34), who beat Seattle on Saturday for his second straight win, will start for the Padres.
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Padres 3, Red Sox 2 
