CHICAGO — New York Mets closer Edwin Diaz will serve a 10-game suspension after being ejected from the team’s 5-2 win over the Chicago Cubs on Sunday night.
The right-hander took the mound in the ninth inning to try to seal the Mets’ victory, but after undergoing an inspection of his glove and pitcher’s hand, he was ejected by third base umpire Vic Carapazza before throwing a pitch.
Both Diaz and manager Carlos Mendoza said the umpire thought the pitcher had a lot of rosin, sweat and dirt on his throwing hands.
“Rules are rules and they made the decision to expel him,” Mendoza said.
Crew chief Carapazza said during the post-fight pool report that what was on Diaz’s hands was “definitely not rosin or sweat.”
“We’ve tested thousands of them,” Carapazza said, “and I know that feeling. This has been very troubling.”
Diaz said he was “really surprised” by his ejection and said he had not yet decided whether to appeal the suspension.
“I always use the same thing,” Diaz says, “I put some rosin on it, some sweat on it, put my hands in the dirt a little bit and grab the ball.”
He is the third Mets pitcher to be ejected for such an infraction last year.
Drew Smith, who was ejected and suspended 10 games for a similar violation last year, replaced Diaz and got two outs before Jake Diekman struck out pinch-hitter Patrick Wisdom for his third save of the game and their fourth straight win.
New York has won 10 of its 13 games in June to improve to 13-6, but may need to search for a temporary closer over the next two weeks. The Mets open a two-game series against the Yankees on Tuesday before hosting Houston for a three-game series.
“We’ve been through so many obstacles this year,” Mendoza said. “We’re going to find a way through it. We’re going to continue to work together and our guys are going to have to step up and I’m pretty confident that with him out we’ve got the guys here that can get us to the finish line.”
