CLEVELAND – Call it frustration, but the Red Sox weren’t thrilled with the work of home plate umpire Brian Gorman.

Manny Ramirez, who rarely complains about balls and strikes, took issue with one of Gorman’s calls and catcher Jason Varitek stepped out of the box to compose himself after clearly showing some displeasure with one of Gorman’s called strikes in the ninth, the final out of the game.

“I’m not getting into the umpiring right now,” said a slightly agitated Varitek when asked after the game. “That’s not something we can control. There’s nothing we can do about it. We’ve got to go out and make good pitches and perform better.”

Another Red Sox hitter sat on the couch and complained bitterly to a clubhouse visitor about the seemingly inconsistent strike zone.

smcadam@projo.com