Punk-pop singer Avril Lavigne drew a sharp rebuke from the Tampa Bay Rays for repeating several expletives at the beginning of her performance Saturday night as part of the team's concert series.

With many of the 24,717 at Tropicana Field still in attendance from the Rays 7-3 loss to the Cleveland Indians, Lavigne got off to  a rough start when her microphone did not work during her first song. She responded to a chorus of boos with a profanity-laced  explanation that things like that happen at a live performance, especially at a 'baseball stadium.'

"The Rays demand profanity-free performances from all of our concert performers and we are extremely disappointed by the language used in last night's show,'' Rays spokesman Rick Vaughn said in a statement Sunday. "It is not consistent with the family-friendly atmosphere that Tropicana Field is known for."

RICK STROUD