Chicago White Sox right-hander Lance Lynn was ejected from his start on Wednesday against the Oakland Athletics (GameTracker) during a foreign substance check. Lynn seemingly was not tossed because he was found to have a substance on his person or his glove, but, rather, because he irked an umpire by tossing his belt at him from the dugout.
Take a look at Lynn's belt toss, which happened after he completed his fourth inning of work:
Lynn and White Sox manager Tony La Russa went onto the field to discuss the matter with the umpiring staff, but he remained ejected all the same.
Lynn, 34, had held the Athletics to one run in four innings despite allowing a lot of traffic on the basepaths. Indeed, he had permitted three hits and three walks to go with his four strikeouts. He even had to escape a bases-loaded, no-out situation in the third, striking out two consecutive batters before inducing an inning-ending pop-up.
La Russa, for his part, turned to young left-hander Garrett Crochet to replace Lynn in the fifth inning. He walked a batter and allowed a hit, but, much like Lynn before him, avoided damage.
Lynn entered the night with a 2.26 ERA (190 ERA+) and a 3.70 strikeout-to-walk ratio in his first 21 starts this season. Last month, he made his second career All-Star Game appearance.
Major League Baseball installed the foreign substance checks on June 21 as a means of pushing back against the prevalence of grip conductors. Any pitcher found to have such a substance on their person or on their equipment will be subjected to a 10-game suspension -- a penalty that also impacts the roster as a whole, since the team cannot replace that pitcher during their punishment. So far, Seattle Mariners lefty Héctor Santiago is the only big-league pitcher to be ejected and suspended in the nearly two months since for having a substance on his glove.
