Chicago White Sox pitcher Lance Lynn was ejected from Wednesday night’s game against the Oakland Athletics after he threw his belt at third-base umpire Nic Lentz in the middle of the fourth inning during a foreign-substance check in the dugout.

Lynn said Lentz was late in making the inspection between innings and that he already was seeking attention from the team’s training staff. He had placed his glove and hat on the dugout railing but not his belt, which he tossed out of the dugout toward Lentz.

The incident was hard to catch during television replays – the announcers initially expressed confusion over what was going on – but one Twitter user was able to zoom in to catch it.

“He was late getting over, so I left my glove and my hat, and then while I was going down in the dugout, trying to see the trainers because I’m dealing with something, he yells at me that he needs to see my belt,” Lynn told reporters after the game. “So I toss it up and then he throws me out.”

“Obviously I hurt his feelings,” Lynn said. “He threw me out because I threw my belt. I said, ‘If you were on time, we wouldn’t have this problem.’ ”

White Sox Manager Tony La Russa argued with the umpires after Lynn’s ejection but admitted after the game that throwing a belt is probably cause for ejection. He said he hoped Lynn wouldn’t face further sanction from the league.

“I can’t speak for the umpires and the league and how they look at that,” La Russa said. “I hope not.”

Lynn, an all-star this season and the betting favorite to win the American League Cy Young Award, gave up one run on three hits and struck out four in his four innings of no-decision work. Chicago eventually won the game, 3-2.

“I wish I could have gone deeper. I didn’t get that opportunity. It was taken from me,” he said.

BILL FREEHAN, an 11-time All-Star catcher with the Detroit Tigers and key player on the 1968 World Series championship team, has died at age 79.

The cause of death was not disclosed, but family members in recent years have publicly said that Freehan had Alzheimer’s disease.

Freehan played his entire career with the Tigers, from 1961 through 1976. Besides All-Star appearances – he played all 15 innings in the 1967 game – he was awarded five Gold Gloves.

“The guy was the best catcher I ever pitched to. … Nobody did it better,” said Denny McLain, who won 31 games for the Tigers in 1968.

In Game 5 of the 1968 World Series against the St. Louis Cardinals, Freehan tagged out Lou Brock in a crucial play at home plate. Detroit won the game and the series – a result best captured by a famous photo of pitcher Mickey Lolich jumping into the arms of his jubilant catcher at the end of Game 7.

Willie Horton, an outfielder who made the throw that nailed Brock, said Freehan was one of his greatest teammates.

“His entire Major League career was committed to the Tigers and the city of Detroit, and he was one of the most respected and talented members of the organization through some difficult yet important times throughout the 1960s and ’70s,” Horton said.

BREWERS: Milwaukee placed All-Star right-hander Freddy Peralta on the 10-day injured because of inflammation in his throwing shoulder.

Peralta’s shoulder trouble caused him to leave his start Wednesday at St. Louis after two innings. He allowed five hits and three runs in a game the NL Central-leading Brewers eventually won 6-4 in 10 innings.

The Brewers recalled left-hander Hoby Milner from Triple-A Nashville and also sent first baseman Daniel Vogelbach to Nashville on a rehabilitation assignment.

Peralta, 25, is 9-3 with a 2.45 ERA and 164 strikeouts in 121 1/3 innings.