Umps Eject Orioles P Brian Matusz for Foreign Substance

Umpires ejected the second relief pitcher in less than a week for possessing a foreign substance.

New Miami Marlins Manager Dan Jennings alerted the umpires to a sticky substance on Baltimore Oriole lefty reliever Brian Matusz’s right arm. Jennings, and the cameras, saw Matusz pawing at the substance.

“We’re not going to address the issue right now,” Matusz told reporters after the game. “It is what it is,” Orioles manager Buck Showalter offered.

The Marlins emerged victorious, 1-0, in the 13th. Jennings, a longtime scout and recent Marlins general manager, picked up his first win as a dugout general since the Reagan era, when he coached high school baseball in Alabama.

MLB meted out an eight-game suspension to Brewers reliever Will Smith on Friday after umpires ejected him from a 10-1 loss against the Braves on Thursday. Whereas Matusz appeared to reach for the substance, Smith merely exhibited it on his right arm. The gooey brownish stuff on Smith appeared more as an aid to grip the ball than to throw a spitter.