WATCH: Umpire force Ronald Acuña Jr to swap gloves for the 9th inning

The umpires held up play to make Ronald change gloves, possibly for an excess of pine tar

Baseball made an infamous "sticky stuff" crackdown a few years ago. Pitchers were going beyond the MLB-provided rosin to create their own substances to enhance grip - too much grip, at times. The foreign substances were so good at letting pitchers get a grip on the ball that it was allowing them to spin it more than ever, making life incredibly difficult for hitters.  

Baseball's response to that was to implement random checks before and after innings of pitchers, and after some ejections, violations mostly stopped. You'd occasionally see a pitcher ejected (including Max Scherzer, earlier this season), but for the most part it went away. 

Until tonight. 

Tonight's umpiring crew decided to stop play before the top of the 9th, with Atlanta leading by four and their closer taking the mound in a non-save situation, to enforce the rule and make someone change equipment. 

Except it was the pitcher - it was Ronald Acuña Jr. 

Umpires made Ronald Acuña Jr. change gloves for some reason. pic.twitter.com/URhJ39NSs9

— Bally Sports South (@BallySportsSO) August 19, 2023

After about four minutes of delay, including both managers coming out for explanations and Ronald Acuña Jr running to the dugout and back to swap gloves, Iglesias induced a fly out to center field and two strikeouts to end it. 

Glad that time was put to good use. 

How to Watch the Atlanta Braves and San Francisco Giants on Saturday, August 19th

Tomorrow's game is a 7:20 PM ET first pitch from Truist Park. The game broadcast is available locally on Bally Sports Southeast and on MLB.tv outside of Braves Country. The radio call is available in the Atlanta Metro area on 680 The Fan, regionally on the Atlanta Braves Radio Network, and nationally on MLB.tv.

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