Reds manager David Bell got tossed for arguing with umpires after Yankees pitcher Clarke Schmidt was caught with sticky hands and remained in the game.
It had already been an eventful week for the Yankees. On Friday, the drama continued.
Umpires checked Yankees pitcher Clarke Schmidt for sticky substances before the bottom of the fifth inning. They felt something suspicious and told him to go wash his hands instead of ejecting him from the game.
Reds manager David Bell couldn't believe the umpires let Schmidt come back out to pitch despite initially failing the sticky stuff test and took an ejection as a result.
Clarke Schmidt is latest Yankee accused of cheating
Clarke had pitched four scoreless inning going into the bottom of the fifth. After washing his hands of whatever substance was there, he forced the first two outs on pop ups, walked Will Myers and then struck out Jose Barrero to end the inning.
Things took a turn for the worse when he came back in the bottom of the sixth. He gave up a single to Jonathan India and a double to Matt McLain before being relieved by Jimmy Cordero.
This would be a heated situation even if Yankees starter Domingo Germán hadn't just been ejected on Tuesday for having overly sticky hands. He has to serve a 10-game suspension as a result. It was the second time this season he had been under a microscope for the stickiness of his fingers.
That's not to mention the hubbub over Aaron Judge's wandering eyes in Toronto.
Part of the problem here is that MLB rules aren't clear. The rules says "Any pitcher who possesses or applies foreign substances will be subject to immediate ejection from the game and suspended automatically in accordance with the rules."
However, the application of rosin seems to sit in a gray area and umpires have taken to having pitchers wash their hands instead of ejecting them straight away. Germán got that treatment the first time. The second time umps insisted it didn't feel like rosin.
Now Schmidt is the one with questions to answer.
