Sheffield's Suspension Cut From 3 Games To 2

DETROIT (AP) _ Tigers slugger Gary Sheffield had his three-game suspension reduced to two Thursday by Major League Baseball. <br/><br/>Sheffield was ejected May 31 at Cleveland for arguing balls and strikes.

Thursday, June 28th 2007, 5:28 pm

By: News On 6

DETROIT (AP) _ Tigers slugger Gary Sheffield had his three-game suspension reduced to two Thursday by Major League Baseball.

Sheffield was ejected May 31 at Cleveland for arguing balls and strikes. Plate umpire Greg Gibson claimed Sheffield threw a piece of his broken bat at him as he walked away _ Sheffield and Tigers manager Jim Leyland disputed Gibson's account.

``Umpires lie, too,'' Sheffield said.

``It just goes to show you it wasn't true and how corrupt the umpiring system is,'' he said. ``They can make a statement and that means it's true. And so it has to go all the way to the commissioner's office, just because it has to go to a higher power, I guess, and that means it's true.''

Bob Watson, baseball's vice president in charge of discipline, spoke to Sheffield and Leyland before Detroit's 5-2 win over Texas. The Tigers DH hit his 18th home run in the victory.

``Jim and I and Gary had a long conversation before today's game and we came to this agreement,'' Watson said. ``His side was compelling and I felt he was sincere.''

Sheffield will sit out games Saturday and Sunday against Minnesota. Still, he's not happy with the ruling.

Sheffield brought up another situation _ Mets catcher Paul Lo Duca's recent two-game suspension after tossing equipment from the dugout _ when talking to Watson.

``I challenged him and asked him, 'Was my situation was worse than Paul Lo Duca's?''' Sheffield said. ``He said it was the same. I didn't throw stuff on the field. When you hear reasoning like that, you know it's a joke.''