LOS ANGELES — Max Scherzer made an early exit from his start Wednesday, being thrown out of the Mets’ game against the Los Angeles Dodgers after a heated argument with umpires.
In the third inning, the umpires showed some concern about his glove and he was forced to change it. The Mets ace then came out of the visitor’s dugout to start the fourth and was checked by Dan Bellino again. Scherzer insisted that he only had rosin on his hands, but Bellino and first base umpire Phil Cuzzi seemed unconvinced. Manager Buck Showalter came out to diffuse the situation but his ace became extremely animated with Bellino and Cuzzi and was ejected.
It’s unclear whether he was ejected for a substance or for arguing with the officiating crew.
Scherzer’s ejection comes four days after Yankees’ starter Domingo German was checked twice due to excessive stickiness on his throwing hand during a 6-1 victory over the Twins. German was allowed to continue after washing his hands, per the umpire’s request, and the crew determining no foreign substance was used.
The ruling angered Twins manager Rocco Baldelli, who got ejected from the game after arguing the umpire’s decision.
Showalter stayed on the field to talk to Bellino while Jimmy Yacabonis warmed quickly in the bullpen. The pitching staff as a whole has been taxed over the last week and the Mets were counting on Scherzer to go at least six or seven innings to alleviate the strain on the bullpen.
Yacabonis came into a scoreless game and gave up one run to the Dodgers, who started former Mets ace Noah Syndergaard on the hill to try to get the win in the series finale.
There was nothing in the data to support any pitch doctoring allegations by Scherzer. His velocity and spin rates were on par with what they were in his first three starts of the season.
When MLB began its crackdown on sticky stuff in 2021, Scherzer was adamant about not using any tacky substances to improve his grip or his spin on the baseball. During a game against the Philadelphia Phillies in June of 2021, manager Joe Girardi requested that Scherzer be checked and chaos ensued, with the right-hander somewhat infamously tossing his glove and hat on the ground and unbuckling his pants for second base umpire Alfonso Marquez.
“I would have to be an absolute fool to actually use something tonight when everybody’s antenna is so far high they’d look for anything,” Scherzer told reporters at the time. “I have absolutely zero on me. I have nothing on me. Check whatever you want. I’ll take off all my clothes if you want to see me.”
It was determined that Scherzer only had sweat on his palms and Girardi, the former Yankees and Phillies skipper, was ejected.
Brandon Nimmo picked up Yacabonis in the fifth inning with a two-run homer off his former Mets teammate.
