NEW YORK (AP) — Padres pitcher Joe Musgrove had his ears searched by an umpire for illegal sticky substances at the behest of Mets manager Buck Showalter in the sixth inning of San Diego’s 6-0 win in the decisive Game 3 of their NL wild-card series Sunday night.
Musgrove was working on a one-hitter with a 4-0 lead, and the spin rate was up on all six of his pitches. After Showalter came out on the field, crew chief Alfonso Marquez went to the mound, felt both of Musgrove’s ears and searched his cap and glove.
Fans yelled “Cheater!” at Musgrove, a member of the 2017 Houston Astros World Series champions that were found by Major League Baseball to have stolen signs.
The Astros’ cheating scandal rocked the sport. Musgrove told The Associated Press this month he feels uncomfortable wearing his championship ring and wants “one that feels earned” with his hometown Padres.
Umpires allowed him to continue pitching, and after striking out Tomás Nido for the second out, Musgrove made a gesture with his hand across his nose toward the Mets dugout.
After Brandon Nimmo’s inning-ending lineout, Musgrove glared at the Mets dugout and third baseman Manny Machado threw up both arms in a gesture toward San Diego fans behind the dugout on the third-base side.
Musgrove threw the first of a record nine no-hitters across baseball in 2021, a surge that helped prompt a crackdown by MLB on the use of foreign sticky substances by pitchers to improve their grip.
Umpires now routinely check pitchers’ gloves, hats and fingers for sticky stuff after innings, although spot checks like the one requested by Showalter remain unusual.
“I guarantee Musgrove has Red Hot on his ears,” Milwaukee outfielder Andrew McCutchen tweeted. “Pitchers use it as mechanism to stay locked in during games. It burns like crazy and IDK why some guys thinks it helps them but in no way is it `sticky.’ Buck is smart tho. Could be trying to just throw him off.”
San Diego batters had repeatedly stepped out against Mets pitcher Chris Bassitt in the early innings in what appeared to be an effort to disrupt his timing.
Musgrove allowed one hit in seven innings with five strikeouts and one walk, throwing 59 of 86 pitches for strikes. His 28 fastballs averaged 2,662 revolutions per minute through six innings, up from a 2,559 average, and their velocity averaged 93.9 mph, 1 mph more than during the regular season. His curve averaged 2,904, up from 2,722.
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