Buck stops ear
Amazin’s have Musgrove checked for illegal substance in 6th inning
With the Mets’ bats quiet in a game that was slipping away, Buck Showalter tried a different method to help his offense get a grip.
Before Padres pitcher Joe Musgrove could throw his first pitch of the bottom of the sixth inning Sunday night, the Mets manager approached first-base umpire and crew chief Alfonso Marquez. Showalter requested a foreign substance check on Musgrove, who had allowed just one hit in five innings of a game the Padres led by four runs.
The umpires checked Musgrove’s hat, glove and notably ears for a substance, and the righthander passed the inspection. He remained in the game and kept rolling as the Padres won, 6-0, to knock the Mets out of the postseason.
Pictures had circulated online of Musgrove’s ear appearing to have a shine, as if he could be using a sticky substance to help his grip and spin rate on the ball. It is also possible Musgrove was especially sweaty, which was his defense.
“I’m sweating like a dog,” Musgrove said after seven innings of no-run, one-hit ball.
“Cheater,” rang out from a Citi Field crowd that had little reason otherwise to insert itself into the game.
“Joe Musgrove is a man of character,” Padres manager Bob Melvin said. “Questioning his character, to me, that’s the part I have a problem with. I’m here to tell everybody that Joe Musgrove is [as] aboveboard as any pitcher — any player — I know.”
Showalter said he “felt bad about” the appearance of essentially accusing Musgrove of cheating, but he alluded to the Mets seeing Musgrove’s spin rates were elevated. As was his velocity, which sticky substances would not aid.
Showalter also hinted that attempting to annoy Musgrove could help his club.
“We certainly weren’t having much luck the way it was going, that’s for sure,” Showalter said. “I’m charged with doing what’s best for the New York Mets, however it might make me look or whatever. I’m going to do that every time and live with the consequences.”
Musgrove’s lone regret, meanwhile, was not striking out the side in the sixth inning. He struck out Tomas Nido and made a gesture toward the Mets’ dugout. After the scoreless frame, Musgrove yelled toward Showalter as he walked to the Padres’ dugout.
Musgrove said the accusation fired him up. The victorious Padres clubhouse did not appear bothered.
“How many hits did Joe give up? They got one hit?” Manny Machado, who was managed by Showalter in Baltimore, accurately asked. “I mean, that’s pretty smart by [Showalter].”