Max Scherzer Ejected From Mets-Dodgers Game for Sticky Substance
LOS ANGELES - Not what the Mets wanted.
Ace pitcher Max Scherzer was ejected from the Mets' rubber game with the Dodgers on Wednesday after just three innings for having a sticky substance on his hand and glove.
Scherzer appeared to be arguing with the umpires over a substance on his pitching hand and glove. And things boiled over before the bottom of the fourth inning, which led to his ejection by first base umpire Phil Cuzzi.
First, the umpires didn't like what was on his glove, so they asked him to change his glove the inning prior.
But when he came back out for the fourth inning, an argument broke out and the umpires tossed him from the game.
Scherzer could be heard screaming at the umpires that the foreign substance was rosin, which is legal and provided to pitchers.
Alas, the umpires didn't agree with Scherzer, and he was forced to exit the game.
Since Scherzer was thrown out for a foreign substance, he could receive an automatic 10-game suspension from the league. He'd be able to appeal this suspension.
After the game, Scherzer walked through what went down and what was said between he and Cuzzi and the rest of the umpiring crew.
"(Phil) said your hand is too sticky. And I said, I swear on my kids' lives, I'm not using anything else. This is sweat and rosin. Sweat and rosin. I keep saying it over and over."
After the third inning, Scherzer washed his hands in front of an MLB official before re-applying the rosin. But Cuzzi said his hands were still too sticky when he came back out.
“I knew I was going to get checked in the fourth,” Scherzer said. “I would have to be an absolute idiot to try and do anything when I come back out.”
As umpire Dan Bellino told the official pool reporter, Scherzer's hand "was so sticky that when we touched his hand, our fingers were sticking to his hand."
The Mets will now play the waiting game to see if Scherzer gets suspended.
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