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(AP) -- St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa says
getting ejected near the end of a comeback victory was definitely
not a strategic move.

 Arizona pitcher Dan Haren, who came up in the Cardinals
organization, accused his former manager of gamesmanship after La
Russa got tossed for arguing balls and strikes in the ninth inning
of a 6-5 victory .

 Haren wasn't angry about it, but said he'd seen La Russa use the
tactic before to ice the opposing pitcher. The Cardinals scored
three times in the ninth.

 La Russa said Tuesday that he would never use umpires as a tool
to throw off an opposing pitcher, and had a member of Arizona's
media relations staff relay that message to Haren.
 It was La Russa's first ejection this season.

(Copyright ©2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)