Mets pitcher Scherzer ejected over 'sticky' substance

Scherzer was tossed before the bottom of the fourth inning after a heated exchange with officials, including crew chief Phil Cuzzi, in which the pitcher insisted there was nothing on his hand or glove but the rosin allowed by Major League Baseball.

Scherzer said he had already complied an inning earlier when asked to wash his hands and change his glove, even washing off with alcohol.

"I'd have to be an absolute idiot to try and do anything when I'm coming back out in the fourth," Scherzer said, adding that he'd washed his hands under the gaze of an MLB official.

When Cuzzi again deemed his hand "too sticky," Scherzer insisted he wasn't using any secret substance to improve his hold on the ball.

"I said, 'I swear on my kids' life, I'm not using anything else,'" he said. "'This is sweat and rosin. Sweat and rosin.' I keep saying it over and over, and they touch my hand and say it's sticky. Yes it is, because it's sweat and rosin."

MLB's rules on sticky substances say a player can't apply rosin "excessively" or on gloves and other equipment.

Nor can players combine rosin with other substances, such as sunscreen, to make it extra sticky.

If Scherzer is deemed to have violated the rule he would automatically be suspended 10 games, a decision he could appeal.

Mets manager Buck Showalter indicated after the game he was confident Scherzer had done nothing wrong.

"We feel pretty comfortable about what went on where Max is concerned," Showalter said. "He's using rosin, what's on the field. That substance is very legal."

It's the second "sticky substance" incident this season. New York Yankees pitcher Domingo German was twice warned about excessive rosin during a game on Saturday - prompting an outburst from Minnesota Twins manager Rocco Baldelli that got Baldelli ejected.

Two MLB pitchers were ejected for violating the updated foreign substance policy in 2021 - Seattle's Hector Santiago and Arizona's Caleb Smith. Both were suspended for 10 games.