Scherzer acknowledges role in first ejection

NEW YORK -- Max Scherzer can carry on a clubhouse debate as well as anybody on the Tigers. He can even give Justin Verlander a good back and forth. Despite that, he had never said anything to earn an ejection until Friday night, when home-plate umpire Will Little tossed him for arguing a called third strike on Torii Hunter in the seventh inning.

Scherzer owned up to it. He wasn't the only one chirping about the call, he said, but he admitted, "I was the one who spoke last."

Scherzer wasn't in the game. He was tossed from the dugout. He's hardly the first Tigers pitcher to suffer that fate. Rick Porcello was ejected from the dugout two years ago against the Angels. Jeremy Bonderman had it happen more than once during his previous Tigers tenure.

Normally, those ejections lead to a minor fine from Major League Baseball, but nothing more.