Uniform check perturbs Francona

NEW YORK — Major League Baseball's style police were patrolling Yankee Stadium, and Red Sox manager Terry Francona was pulled over.

During the second inning of Wednesday night's game against the New York Yankees, Francona was called out of the dugout so an MLB security official could make sure he was wearing his uniform top under his usual Boston pullover jacket.

"When Derek Jeter is on second base and I got somebody coming from the league making me go down the runway, I was a little perturbed," Francona said Thursday.

"That was about as embarrassed as I've been in a long time, for baseball."

Francona got fired up again in the seventh inning of the series finale against New York. He was ejected for the fifth time this season for arguing with the umpires after Kevin Youkilis was called out for running outside the basepath.

Francona said the commissioner's office contacted him when the Red Sox were in Cleveland earlier this month, reminding him to wear his uniform top. He also spoke with MLB vice president Bob Watson before Wednesday's game, and Francona said he showed him he was wearing his uniform under his jacket.

TIGERS GET LAMBERT: The Detroit Tigers acquired right-hander Chris Lambert from St. Louis on Thursday as the player to be named later completing the trade of left-hander Mike Maroth. Lambert, who appeared in both Double-A and Triple-A in the Cardinals system this year, was assigned to Triple-A Toledo.

HARGROVE VISITS MARINERS: Nearly two months after stunning his team by stepping down as manager, Mike Hargrove visited the Seattle Mariners on Thursday night.

Hargrove attended a game between the Mariners and Cleveland Indians at Jacobs Field. It was the first time he'd seen his former club play since resigning on July 1. The 57-year-old Hargrove lives in Richfield, Ohio, about 20 miles from Cleveland.

Hargrove spoke with John McLaren, who took over as manager, in the Mariners' clubhouse before the game. Hargrove stood at the batting cage as Seattle took batting practice and talked with several coaches and players.

"I miss being around the players, and I miss the game itself," he said. "I miss the excitement of winning but not the dregs of losing."