NEW YORK — New York Yankees pitcher Domingo Germán was suspended for 10 games Wednesday by Major League Baseball and fined for violating the sport’s prohibition of foreign substances on the mound.
The penalty was announced following Germán’s ejection in the fourth inning Tuesday night at Toronto for what an umpire said was “the stickiest hand I’ve ever felt.”
“My fingers had a hard time coming off his palm,” crew chief James Hoye explained after the game.
The punishment was imposed by Michael Hill, MLB’s senior vice president for on-field operations. Germán did not appeal, and his penalty began with Wednesday night’s game in Toronto.
Germán had retired his first nine batters Tuesday night. He denied Hoye’s assertion, saying he didn’t have anything on his hand other than rosin.
“It was definitely just the rosin bag,” Germán said through a translator. “It was sweat and the rosin bag. I don’t need any extra help to grab the baseball.”
Germán’s ejection was the fourth since Major League Baseball started its crackdown on prohibited grip aids two years ago, and the second this season.
Hoye’s crew examined the 30-year-old right-hander during an April 15 start against Minnesota, when Germán retired his first 16 batters, but allowed him to stay in that game. Hoye had asked Germán to wash rosin off his hand and some had remained on the pitcher’s pinkie.
Mets pitcher Max Scherzer was suspended for sticky stuff on April 20, and Seattle’s Héctor Santiago and Arizona’s Caleb Smith were suspended in 2021.
BLUE JAYS: Right-hander Jay Jackson says he believes he was tipping his pitches when New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge homered against him Monday night.
That at-bat was quickly scrutinized when cameras caught Judge taking unusual glances toward the first-base line moments before Jackson delivered. Many questioned whether someone on the Yankees was signaling to the 2022 AL MVP an indication of which pitch Jackson was about to throw, based on either sign stealing or pitch tipping.
Jackson told The Athletic on Tuesday night that he believes a Yankees coach was able to see which grip he was using while holding the ball in his glove, and that coach relayed the info to Judge, helping him hit a 462-foot home run. Jackson was optioned to Triple-A Buffalo on Tuesday, and Toronto recalled right-hander Thomas Hatch from the Bisons.
There is no prohibition on teammates or coaches using the naked eye to study pitchers and relay that info to batters. When the 2017 Houston Astros were punished for sign stealing, it was because they used banned electronics — including live video feeds — to help gather that intel.
Jackson said he was holding his hands up by his head before coming to the set position, in a spot that might have allowed Yankees first base coach Travis Chapman to see Jackson’s grip on the ball and identify the pitch. Chapman could have relayed the information to Judge using a hand signal.
Jackson also said he was tipping his pitches by moving his hands from his head down to the set position at his hip at different speeds on different pitches.
After Monday’s game, Judge said he was looking into his dugout to see which of his teammates was disrupting his at-bat by yelling at plate umpire Clint Vondrak. Vondrak had just ejected New York Manager Aaron Boone for arguing a low strike call to Judge.
Before Tuesday’s game, Blue Jays Manager John Schneider expressed concern about where the Yankees were positioning their first and third base coaches, saying his team had spoken to the commissioner’s office about the issue.
“There’s boxes on the field for a reason,” Schneider said.
After Judge struck out in the third inning Tuesday, there was a brief shouting match between Blue Jays pitching coach Pete Walker and Yankees third base coach Luis Rojas. Walker went to the outfield end of the dugout, yelling and gesturing at Rojas, a former Mets manager.
Later, Boone gestured at Blue Jays third base coach Luis Rivera, motioning for him to return to the box painted in foul territory behind third.
BREWERS: Left-hander Wade Miley went on the injured list, one day after a lat strain caused him to leave a game after throwing only 22 pitches.
Miley exited in the second inning of the Brewers’ 3-2 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Tuesday. The 36-year-old Miley has posted a 3-2 record with a 3.67 ERA in eight starts this season.
RANGERS: Shortstop Corey Seager was activated from the injured list after 31 games because of a left hamstring strain.
Seager hit .359 with one homer and four RBI in the first 11 games of the season before he got hurt running the bases April 11 in a home game against Kansas City.
DIAMONDBACKS: While warming up in the outfield before Arizona’s game at Oakland, Zac Gallen threw a curveball that hit a bird in midflight, killing the animal.
“I don’t really know what happened, honestly,” Gallen said. “I just know that the ball changed directions really. I saw what happened. It’s kind of a freak accident. It’s unfortunate.”
The throw was captured by cameras for Diamondbacks’ broadcaster Bally Sports Arizona.
Randy Johnson infamously killed a bird during a spring training game in 2001. While throwing a pitch against the San Francisco Giants, a bird crossed in front of home plate and was destroyed by the baseball.
TWINS: Center fielder Nick Gordon is heading to the injured list after he fractured his right shin during Wednesday’s game against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The injury occurred when Gordon fouled a pitch by Dylan Covey off his leg during the fifth inning.
PADRES: Manny Machado has a small fracture in his left hand and the team isn’t sure if he will require a stint on the injured list.
Machado was hurt when he was hit by a pitch in Monday night’s 4-0 win against the Kansas City Royals. Padres Manager Bob Melvin said X-rays that night didn’t show a fracture, but Machado had a CT scan and MRI on Tuesday that revealed a fractured metacarpal.
WEDNESDAY’S GAMES
INTERLEAGUE
PIRATES 8, TIGERS 0: Rich Hill gave up one hit in six innings, Austin Hedges drove in three runs and Pittsburgh won at Detroit.
The 43-year-old Hill (4-3), the oldest active player in the majors, gave up an infield single to Matt Vierling and two walks, striking out seven. A trio of relievers completed the shutout as Pittsburgh won for just the third time in 15 games.
Rodolfo Castro homered and knocked in two runs, and Bryan Reynolds contributed three hits and scored two runs.
Tigers starter Eduardo Rodríguez, who had allowed just two runs in his previous six starts, gave up four runs and six hits in five innings.
DODGERS 7, TWINS 3: James Outman hit a go-ahead grand slam in the seventh inning and Los Angeles rallied to beat visiting Minnesota.
Byron Buxton and Joey Gallo homered for the Twins, who dropped 2 of 3 in a matchup of division leaders. Gallo left the game with two outs in the ninth after taking a foul ball off his leg.
Dodgers starter Dustin May left after the first inning due to right elbow pain. May had Tommy John Surgery two years ago.
DIAMONDBACKS 5, ATHLETICS 3: Lourdes Gurriel Jr. led off the ninth with a double and scored the go-ahead run on a sacrifice fly by Jose Herrera to give the visiting Arizona a win over Oakland for its fifth win in six games.
Christian Walker and Corbin Carroll homered as Arizona took 2 of 3 from Oakland in the series despite the bullpen giving up another late lead.
Gurriel led off the ninth with a double off Shintaro Fujinami (1-5) for his seventh straight game with an extra-base hit. Two walks loaded the bases before Herrera’s drive to right off Adrian Martinez allowed Gurriel to score easily.
Ketel Marte added an RBI single.
ROYALS 4, PADRES 3: Vinnie Pasquantino hit a tie-breaking two-run homer off Yu Darvish and visiting Kansas City beat San Diego.
Pasquantino’s homer to right field, his eighth, and Maikel Garcia’s RBI double gave the Royals a 4-1 lead in the sixth inning.
BRAVES 6, RANGERS 5: Orlando Arcia hit a tie-breaking solo homer with two outs in the ninth inning and NL East-leading Atlanta avoided consecutive series losses for the first time this season by rallying to win at Texas.
Ronald Acuña Jr. homered in his fourth consecutive game for the Braves, and Eddie Rosario had a two-run shot in the second that ended Texas starter Nathan Eovaldi’s scoreless streak at 29 2/3 innings.
METS 8, RAYS 7: Francisco Álvarez hit a tying three-run homer with two outs in the ninth inning and Pete Alonso hit a game-ending three-run shot in the 10th, giving New York an improbable win over visiting Tampa Bay.
New York trailed 2-0 before Mark Vientos, a rookie brought up from the minors for his season debut, tied the score with a two-run homer in the seventh off side-armer Ryan Thompson.
Brandon Lowe put the Rays back ahead with a two-run homer off Adam Ottavino in a three-run eighth that built a 5-2 lead.
Álvarez homered on a sweeper from Jason Adam, a 426-foot shot off the facing of the left-field second deck, to send the game into extra innings. The Rays opened a 7-5 lead when pinch-hitter Harold Ramirez and Josh Lowe had run-scoring singles in the 10th against David Robertson (1-0).
Jeff McNeil singled off Pete Fairbanks (0-1) leading off the bottom half, and Alonso pulled a fastball into the left-field second deck for his 15th home run of the season, sending the Mets running onto the field following their first walk-off win this season.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
ROCKIES 11, REDS 6: Elias Díaz drove in three runs and Kris Bryant, Jurickson Profar and Brenton Doyle each had two RBI in a two-inning, 11-run outburst that helped Colorado erase a five-run deficit and beat visiting Cincinnati.
The Rockies sent 19 batters to the plate and recorded 10 hits while scoring five times in the fifth and six more times in the sixth. Doyle’s two-run triple put Colorado ahead to stay in its 11th win in 16 games.
GIANTS 7, PHILLIES 4: Thairo Estrada hit a tie-breaking RBI single as part of a three-run eighth inning and San Francisco beat visiting Philadelphia to complete a three-game sweep.
Wilmer Flores and Casey Schmitt each had two-run singles, and Blake Sabol and Brandon Crawford also drove in runs as the Giants won their sixth straight game against the Phillies.
Bryson Stott homered for Philadelphia, which lost its fourth in a row.
MARLINS 4, NATIONALS 3: Jorge Soler hit a go-ahead home run for the second straight game, and Miami held off visiting Washington.
With the Marlins trailing 2-1, Luis Arraez led off the fourth with a single before Soler sent MacKenzie Gore’s first pitch to left-center for his 11th home run of the season.
Bryan De La Cruz gave Miami a two-run cushion in the sixth with an RBI double against Gore (3-3). .
Washington pulled within 4-3 in the seventh. Corey Dickerson led off the inning with a single against Andrew Nardi, and Ildemaro Vargas singled in the next at-bat off JT Chargois. A throwing error by shortstop Jon Berti advanced the runners before Alex Call drove in Dickerson on a groundout. Chargois then struck out CJ Abrams and Lane Thomas to end the threat.
CARDINALS 3, BREWERS 0: Matthew Liberatore tossed five shutout innings in his season debut and Paul DeJong homered to lead St. Louis to a win over visiting Milwaukee.
St. Louis has won 8 of 10 after a 10-24 start to the season.
AMERICAN LEAGUE
ORIOLES 3, ANGELS 1: Kyle Bradish pitched impressively into the seventh inning and Austin Hays homered to lift Baltimore to a win at home.
Mike Trout went deep for the Angels, but they fell back to .500 with their eighth loss in 11 games.
BLUE JAYS 3, YANKEES 0: Danny Jansen hit a three-run homer in the 10th inning and Toronto beat visiting New York.
Long after Blue Jays starter Chris Bassitt and Yankees ace Gerrit Cole exited a scoreless duel, Jansen’s fourth homer of the season came on the first pitch he saw from reliever Wandy Peralta (2-1).
Whit Merrifield reached on shortstop Anthony Volpe’s error to begin the bottom of the 10th as automatic runner Cavan Biggio advanced from second to third.
New York moved left fielder Oswaldo Cabrera into the infield, and Alejandro Kirk grounded out to shortstop before Jansen followed with his winning drive to left.
Toronto closer Jordan Romano (3-2) tossed one inning for the win.
WHITE SOX 7, GUARDIANS 2: Jake Burger and Gavin Sheets both homered for the second straight game, leading Chicago past visiting Cleveland.
Burger added a triple and single for Chicago, which has posted consecutive victories against Cleveland and won for the third time in four games. Andrew Vaughn also went deep for the White Sox.
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