BOSTON -- Red Sox catcher Jason Varitek jerked his head around and exchanged some heated words with plate umpire Tony Randazzo after he was called out on strikes in the fifth inning Saturday, but that had nothing to do, he said, with his ejection in the ninth inning of Boston's 9-8, 14-inning win over the Oakland Athletics.

He also was upset with some pitches that were not called strikes during Daric Barton's at-bat in the ninth, especially a 1-and-2 pitch, with Barton ultimately drawing a walk and scoring during Oakland's game-tying, four-run rally against closer Jonathan Papelbonthat sent the game to extra innings. But even that, he said, could not be singled out as the sole cause of his aggrieved state.

"It's simple,'' he said. "I lost my cool on those things that happened in that inning that I felt like Pap had made some pitches.''

Varitek was ejected after he went mask to face with Randazzo following an RBI double by Cliff Pennington that had drawn the Athletics to within 7-5. The ejection was the fifth of his career.''

"To go in depth, sometimes you react to things,'' Varitek said. "When you sit around here for four hours, you can think of a lot of different ways you could have reacted. It's simple. I lost my cool.''

Varitek had words of praise for his replacement, Jarrod Saltalamacchia, especially during the final at-bat of the ninth inning by Oakland DH Hideki Matsui. With the potential go-ahead run on third, Saltalamacchia made a successful stab at a low pitch that looked like trouble. Then, after Matsui swung at a two-strike pitch in the dirt that rolled away from the plate, Saltalamacchia retrieved the ball and gunned a throw to first in time to retire the slow-footed slugger.

"The second strike to Matsui, making that block was huge, and that one (the third strike) got even shorter,'' Varitek said. "He hustled to the ball and made a play, and that ended up being a huge part, along with a lot of other people's efforts. He had the full gamut today. He had [a tag play at the plate], he had a popup, he had balls in the dirt, he even had that big double.''