Next time A-Rod might think twice about running across Dallas Braden's mound.

The Oakland lefty who go into a war of words with Alex Rodriguez last month, and challenged him to fight late last week, threw    the Athletics' first perfect game in 42 years with a dazzling performance in a 4-0 win over the Tampa Bay Rays.

It was the majors' first perfect game since Mark Buehrle did it for the White Sox against the Rays on July 23, and the second no-hitter this season after Colorado's Ubaldo Jimenez pulled it off against the Braves in Atlanta on April 17.

Braden pitched the A's first perfect game since Hall of Famer Jim "Catfish" Hunter's gem on May 8, 1968, against the Minnesota Twins.

Braden helped the A's to a 4-2 win over the Bombers on April 22, and it wasn't without controversy. During the Yankee loss, Rodriguez ran across the mound, much to Braden's dismay.

"He should maybe watch his captain a little more often," Braden said, referring to Derek Jeter, after the game. "It doesn't start and end with him over there at third."

Braden continued, saying: "(The Yankees) are an extremely classy organization with guys who always tend to do the right thing every time; it's kind of disheartening to see that not show through or be reflected by somebody of (Rodriguez's) status. He's a tremendous player and a tremendous talent, and I don't care if I'm Cy Young or the 25th man on a roster; if I've got the ball in my hand and I'm out there on that mound, that's not your mound. You want to run across the mound? Go run laps in the bullpen. That's my mound."
This wasn't the first on-field run-in for Rodriguez, whose infamous glove slap of Bronson Arroyo in the 2004 ALCS and "Ha!" comment in May of 2007 at Toronto infuriated opponents.

"He just told me to get off his mound," Rodriguez said on the exchange with Braden. "That was a little surprising. I've never quite heard that - especially from a guy that has a handful of wins in his career."
Braden, who is 17-23 in his four-year career, was stunned by A-Rod's maneuver.
"No, he didn't apologize," Braden said. "And it's a shame; I have a lot of respect for that guy, everything he's done in the game. You admire a talent like that. It's just disappointing when you see the other side of things."

On Friday at Fenway, Rodriguez was asked about the incident  and the pitcher's claim that it should be settled with fists, and said it was no longer an issue.

"We are past it," A-Rod said Friday afternoon in the visiting clubhouse at Fenway Park.

Still, given Braden said Rodriguez might want to rethink how he goes back to the dugout in the future.

"I don't go over there and run laps at third base. I don't spit over there. I stay away," Braden said last month. "He ran across the pitcher's mound, foot on my rubber. No, that's not flying. We're not the doormat anymore. Maybe it doesn't come across his mind to do that to the Oakland A's, but maybe it does enter his mind to not do it against the Boston Red Sox or to not do it against another team. It didn't even enter his mind, so I aided him with that.
BY James Parziale