BASEBALL / DAILY REPORT : ANGELS : Blue Jays Victims of Bad Umpiring

The Ontario Labor Relations Board has ruled that major league umpires can’t be locked out of the SkyDome and that replacement umpires would be barred from working Blue Jay games after the first home stand.

If the regular umpires do return, Toronto Manager Cito Gaston, whose team was victimized by two very questionable calls in Saturday’s 3-0 victory over the Angels, will probably be at the front of the receiving line.

With Roberto Alomar on third base in the second inning, Ed Sprague popped to shortstop Gary DiSarcina down the left-field line. Angel pitcher Scott Sanderson came in behind Alomar on the play and, after taking a throw from DiSarcina, knocked Alomar’s hand off the bag with his knee.

Sanderson put the tag on Alomar while he was off the bag, and umpire Randy Harvey called him out. Baseball rules allow players to block bags, but they can’t force a runner off a base.

A two-strike pitch to Paul Molitor in the fifth inning appeared to glance off Molitor’s forearm, but umpire Gus Klein ruled it a foul tip, which Andy Allanson caught for a strikeout.

The Blue Jays did benefit from one shaky call, though, when Klein ruled that a Mike James curve in the dirt struck Shawn Green in the foot in the sixth. Green later scored Toronto’s third run.

“You can’t expect them to be major league umpires, but they give you an honest effort, and that’s all you can ask for now until the regulars get back,” Angel Manager Marcel Lachemann said. “We need to put all this garbage behind us and get the game back to where it belongs.”

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James, a right-hander who made his major league debut Saturday after seven years in the minor leagues, allowed only one ball to leave the infield during his two innings but was still tagged for two runs.

A walk, a hit batsman and Sprague’s infield single loaded the bases with one out in the sixth. Randy Knorr grounded to first baseman J.T. Snow, who threw to second to force Sprague. But DiSarcina’s relay went past James, who was covering first on the play. Instead of an inning-ending double play, two Blue Jays scored.