Umps check Padres pitcher Musgrove’s ears for sticky stuff after Mets prompt

NEW YORK (AP) — Joe Musgrove received a slap in the face — and he didn’t mind at all.

The San Diego Padres pitcher was working on a one-hitter and was about to face the Mets in the sixth inning when New York manager Buck Showalter walked out to crew boss Alfonso Marquez.

Two minutes later, the umpire had a hand in each of the pitcher’s ears, as if a magician were pulling out a coin.

“He won’t find anything,” Musgrove recalled thoughts.

Showalter took the extraordinary step of asking Musgrove to be searched for banned sticky substances on Sunday, a move felt by many to be desperate gimmicks that didn’t throw the pitcher off track. Musgrove went through seven innings with one-hit ball and helped San Diego beat the Mets 6-0 in the deciding Game 3 of their NL wildcard series Sunday night.

“I feel kind of bad about it,” Showalter said. “He’s too good a pitcher and they’re too good – without going into a lot of things, the spin rates and various things I’m sure you all know when you see something that jumps at you – – I get a lot of information in the dugout , that – we certainly weren’t very lucky the way it went, that’s for sure.”

Fans shouted at Musgrove, a member of the 2017 Houston Astros World Series Champions, “Cheaters!

Musgrove told The Associated Press this month he was uncomfortable wearing his championship ring and wanted “one that feels deserved” with his hometown Padres.

“I’m more of a high-road guy,” said Padres manager Bob Melvin. “Joe Musgrove is a man of character. Questioning his character is the part I have a problem with – and I’m here to tell everyone that Joe Musgrove is as decent as any pitcher I know, any player I know know, and unfortunately that happened to him, because the reception he got afterwards was not justified.”

The umpires allowed him to continue pitching, and after beating Tomas Nido for the second out, Musgrove gestured toward the Mets’ dugout with his hand over his nose.

After Brandon Nimmo’s inning-ending lineout, Musgrove stared at the Mets’ dugout and third baseman Manny Machado threw both arms in a gesture towards the San Diego fans behind the dugout on the third base side.

“It motivated me a bit, man. said Musgrove. “An opportunity to stay with them a bit and stay with the crowd. I used it and then I had to get back to work.”

Musgrove threw the first no-hitter in Padres history, the first of nine no-hitters in baseball in 2021 that helped MLB crack down on pitchers’ use of foreign stickies to improve their grip in June .

Umpires now routinely check pitchers’ gloves, hats and fingers for sticky stuff after the innings. Marquez, a major league umpire since 1999, said he was only asked for a similar sample.

“All Buck asked was that we search for an illegal substance, and the crew did that,” Marquez said. “We examined him and found nothing.”

The bizarre inspection, which caused a 3 1/2 minute delay, lit up social media.

“I guarantee Musgrove has Red Hot on his ears,” Milwaukee outfielder Andrew McCutchen tweeted. “Pitchers use it as a mechanism to stay locked in during play. It burns like crazy and knows why some people think it helps them, but it’s not ‘sticky’ in any way. Buck’s smart anyway. Might try just shake him off.”

Musgrove allowed one hit in seven innings with five strikeouts and a walk, and threw 59 of 86 pitches for strikes.

His 28 fastballs averaged 2,662 rpm in six innings, down from an average of 2,559, and their speed averaged 93.9 mph, 1 mph faster than during the regular season. His curve averaged a 2,904, versus 2,722.

“There are some pretty obvious reasons why it was necessary,” Showalter said. “I’m charged with doing what’s best for the New York Mets. If it makes me look like it makes me look or whatever, I’ll do it every time and live with the consequences.”