Even Joe Torre says Alex Rodriguez was out of line.

The New York Yankees manager concluded A-Rod shouldn’t have distracted a Toronto fielder this week during a popup, joining a chorus of baseball people who said the two-time American League MVP broke the sport’s unwritten code.

"He may have been excited about the fact that we were leading the ballgame," Torre said yesterday before his team’s 8-5 victory over the Boston Red Sox. "It was probably inappropriate to do it at the time he did it, but you can’t change it, unfortunately."

The play occurred in the ninth inning of New York’s 10-5 win Wednesday night at Toronto.

With the Yankees leading 7-5, Rodriguez was on first base and ran hard when Jorge Posada popped up. As he ran near third baseman Howie Clark, Rodriguez said something - "Hah!" according to Rodriguez, "Mine," according to Clark. The ball dropped for a run-scoring single.

When the game ended, many Toronto players stayed on the bench, staring at Rodriguez and New York players.

"They were angry," Torre said. "Oh, there’s no question. I can’t say I blame them, but what are you going to do about it? What’s happened has happened."

Torre said he spoke with Rodriguez after the game.

"It’s probably something he shouldn’t have done," Torre said. "I don’t sense he’s going to do it again."

● SUSPENDED: Detroit designated hitter Gary Sheffield and San Diego catcher Josh Bard were suspended for three games each by the commissioner’s office yesterday for confrontations with umpires the previous night.

Both players filed appeals, meaning they cannot be penalized until after hearings and decisions on the appeals.

Sheffield was penalized for "aggressive actions directed at umpire Greg Gibson" at Cleveland, according to Bob Watson, baseball’s vice president for discipline. Gibson ejected Sheffield in the fifth inning after the slugger argued a strike call then broke his bat on a groundout and threw away the piece of wood still in his hands.

Sheffield denied throwing the bat handle at Gibson.

"If I want to throw a bat at an umpire, I’ll turn around and throw it at him," Sheffield told The Detroit News. "The only thing I had in my hand was a little piece of the handle, and I threw it towards our dugout, anyway.

"When I threw the bat down, I was letting him know I was" angry, "but that’s it, and then I was going to go to the dugout. Then he said something to me, telling me not to throw the bat like that.

"I said, ‘Last time I checked, I paid for the bat, I can throw it any way I want. How should I throw it?’ At that point, he said, ‘You’re outta here.’ That’s when it boiled over. That’s when I told him what I think of him as a person and as an umpire."

Bard was suspended for "aggressive actions, including making contact with umpire Ed Rapuano" at Pittsburgh.

Bard hit an 11th-inning drive that appeared to reach the right-field seats for his second homer of the game. Bard took his home run trot and put his catching gear back on, only to have Joe West’s umpiring crew reverse the call after Pirates Manager Jim Tracy successfully argued the drive struck a thin metal railing above the right-field wall and did not leave the park.

Copyright 2007 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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