Major League Baseball games played Thursday, May 8, 2008: A partial slate of twelve games played Thursday produced two ejections.

In Chicago, where the White Sox hosted the Minnesota Twins, home plate umpire Doug Eddings ejected Twins manager Ron Gardenhire in the bottom of the 6th inning on a strange play in which the batter was ruled by the first place umpire to have committed for strike three on a 3-2 count with no outs and runners on first and second. Before the home plate umpire appealed to the first base umpire on the swing, however, the runners on first and second advanced to second and third. And that precipitated an argument that led to Gardenhire's ejection. The Twins were losing 3-2 at the time of the ejection and ended up losing by a score of 6-2. You can access the box score at this link, while wraps from MLB.com are available here (featuring video of the ejection) and here. You can view a related photo at this link. Additional coverage is available from The Minneapolis Star Tribune; The St. Paul Pioneer Press; The Chicago Tribune; The Chicago Sun-Times; and The Associated Press.

And in Seattle, where the Mariners hosted the Texas Rangers, home plate umpire Chad Fairchild (a 2008 minor league call-up umpire) ejected Mariners first baseman Richie Sexson in the bottom of the 4th inning after Sexson charged the mound and began to fight with the Rangers pitcher after a high pitch during Sexson's at bat. The Mariners were trailing 4-0 at the time of the ejection and went on to lose by the score of 5-0. You can access the box score at this link, while wraps from MLB.com are here and here. An MLB.com report headlined "Sexson sets off fracas in Seattle; Mariners first baseman upset by high-and-inside pitch" features video of the incident. You can view related photos here; here; here; here; and here. Additional coverage is available from The Seattle Times (access related photos here); The Seattle Post-Intelligencer (here and here); The Dallas Morning News; The Fort Worth Star-Telegram; and The Associated Press.

Credit umpires Doug Eddings and Chad Fairchild with an ejection -- for each, his first of the season -- and adjust your Umpire Fantasy League standings accordingly.