Mets right-hander Max Scherzer was ejected from Wednesday's game against the Dodgers in Los Angeles before the bottom of the fourth inning, a game the Mets went on to win 5-3.
The ejection occurred following a heated argument with umpires that came an inning after Scherzer was asked to switch his glove.
According to Buck Showalter, the ejection had "nothing to do with arguing," but was due to crew chief Phil Cuzzi not liking that there was rosin on Scherzer's hand.
"We’ll let it run its course," Showalter said, "I’m not going to walk back through that and everything. We’ll let it run its course. We feel pretty comfortable about what went on where Max is concerned."
"He’s using rosin, what’s on the field. That substance is very legal," Showalter added. "Wiped it off, washed it. I don’t know. Phil has certainly been a guy who’s known for that, so we’ll see."
Under MLB rules, any pitcher ejected for what’s deemed to be a foreign substance faces an automatic 10-game suspension, though Scherzer has the ability to appeal.
"They asked him to wash it and MLB officials down the dugout saw him wash it, so it’s going to be pretty interesting to see where they go with this one," Showalter said.
Prior to his ejection, Scherzer had rebounded from an uneven first inning and had been cruising, retiring the last eight batters he faced.
Overall, he threw three scoreless innings while allowing one hit, walking two, and striking out three.