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Torii Hunter on game-ending call: Umpire 'needs to do his job'

MLB, Minnesota Twins, Detroit Tigers

Trailing 4-0 to the Detroit Tigers in the ninth inning, the Minnesota Twins needed to string together some offense to make a comeback and win on Opening Day.

With two outs, Brian Dozier and Joe Mauer singled to bring up Torii Hunter. The Tigers responded by bringing in closer Joe Nathan.

Hunter fell behind 1-2 in the count. He thought he checked his swing on the fourth pitch, but plate umpire Joe West called a third strike to end the game.

And that's when Hunter lost it.

The Twins' right fielder dropped his bat and got in West's face as the umpire left the field, asking him to check with the first-base umpire.

"You know I didn't swing. The proof is in the pudding," Hunter told reporters after the game.

"I think he had dinner reservations or a concert to play in. ... That was terrible," Hunter added. "All I ask -- everybody asks -- we come out and do our job every day. That's what I do. I come ready to play, do my job. I battle at the plate. We ask you to do your job as well. Joe West needs to do his job, and he didn't do it well."

West defended his call after the game.

"I thought he swung, so I said he swung," West said. "They're all great players, and any time you get called out at the end of the game on something like that, they're going to be upset, so I understand that."

Hunter was playing his first game with Minnesota since leaving the team after the 2007 season. After five years with the Los Angeles Angels, he played for Detroit the past two seasons.

The Twins and Tigers square off again Wednesday.

Information from ESPN's Christina Kahrl contributed to this report.

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