Alex Sanabia : I didn't know spitter was against rules

Alex Sanabia was caught on camera spitting on the ball earlier this week against Philadelphia.

/AP

Miami Marlins pitcher Alex Sanabia says he didn't know it was illegal to spit on the ball, the way he did Monday against the Philadelphia Phillies.

Cameras caught Sanabia spitting on the ball after the Phillies' Domonic Brown homered off him during the second inning of Monday's game in Miami. He said Friday before the Marlins' game against the Chicago White Sox he hasn't been contacted by Major League Baseball about what he did.

He says he did it to get a better grip on the ball, and not to get more movement on his pitches.

Sanabia says that was the first time he spit on the ball, and that he did it because the ball was "super slick."