Mets’ Scherzer denies wrongdoing after ejection for sticky substance on glove

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Max Scherzer swore on his kids’s lives he put nothing however sweat and rosin on his palms at Dodger Stadium. The umpires nonetheless ejected him Wednesday, telling the Mets ace his hand was too sticky to probably be authorized.

The three-time Cy Young Award winner loudly proclaimed his innocence afterward. Scherzer additionally praised his bullpen for saving the Mets’ day after his early exit.

Scherzer was ejected within the fourth inning after the umpires’ examine of his palms, however 5 relievers got here by means of and Brandon Nimmo went 5 for five in New York’s 5-3 victory over the slumping Los Angeles Dodgers.

Scherzer was visibly livid when umpire Phil Cuzzi tossed him following an inspection and a prolonged dialog that included plate umpire Dan Bellino, the crew chief.

“Yes, when you use sweat and rosin, your hand is sticky,” Scherzer stated. “I don’t get how I get ejected when I’m in front of MLB officials doing exactly what you want and being deemed my hand is too sticky when I’m using legal substances.”

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The hassle began after the second inning, when Cuzzi decided Scherzer’s hand was stickier and darker than regular. Cuzzi ordered Scherzer to scrub his hand, which Scherzer stated he did with alcohol whereas a Major League Baseball official watched.

After the third inning, Cuzzi then decided the pocket of Scherzer’s glove was “sticky,” seemingly with an excessive amount of rosin, and he ordered Scherzer to alter gloves. The umpires then checked the 38-year-old right-hander once more earlier than the fourth, and his palms have been even worse than earlier than.

“As far as stickiness, level of stickiness, this was the stickiest that it has been since I’ve been inspecting hands, which now goes back three seasons,” Bellino stated. “Compared to the first inning, the level of stickiness, it was so sticky that when we touched his hand, our fingers were sticking to his hand. And whatever was on there remained on our fingers afterwards for a couple innings, where you could still feel that the fingers were sticking together.”

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Scherzer had pitched three scoreless innings of one-hit ball earlier than his early exit. It was his shortest begin since June 11, 2021, when he threw 12 pitches for Washington earlier than leaving with a groin harm.

“I knew I was going to get checked (before the fourth), so I’d have to be an absolute idiot to use anything else,” Scherzer stated. “I literally go out there with sweat and rosin, (and) I get ejected.”

Bellino and Cuzzi weren’t shopping for it, saying one thing was out of the strange with Scherzer.

“Every pitcher we check, we’re accustomed to what that rosin residue will be on a pitcher’s hand,” Bellino stated. “The fact that this went so much further was indicative that there was something likely more than just rosin. Something that was so sticky that, whatever it was, it was all over the palm. It was up on the inside of the fingers.”

Mets supervisor Buck Showalter famous that Cuzzi is “certainly a guy that’s known for” throwing out pitchers. Cuzzi was on the crews that ejected Seattle’s Héctor Santiago and Arizona’s Caleb Smith in 2021, the one pitchers suspended for sticky substances since MLB’s crackdown started. Both pitchers adamantly denied wrongdoing.

Scherzer and the umpires all refused to take a position on whether or not Scherzer would obtain the automated 10-game suspension handed out to violators of the rule.

“Now it’s becoming a legal matter, and I don’t want to comment,” Scherzer stated.

Jimmy Yacabonis (2-0) needed to heat up on the mound after getting the abrupt name from the bullpen, however he pitched 2 2/3 innings of two-hit ball after following Scherzer’s ejection. Adam Ottavino gave up David Peralta’s ninth-inning homer, however completed for his third save.