Reactions to RHP Robert Suarez's Ejection, Pitcher Denies Using Substance

Padres relief pitcher Robert Suarez was ejected from Wednesday's game against the Miami Marlins after failing an inspection for a foreign substance before entering the eight inning.

Suarez said that the substance was sunscreen, which, he said, he uses during all day games. A check before taking the mound has become routine in MLB in order to prevent pitchers from using performance enhancing substances.

Suarez didn't pass the test.

“We were doing a routine spot check for a foreign substance,” Tichenor said in a pool report. “He was observed to have a sticky substance on his glove-hand side. All four of us got together, and we deemed that it was too sticky -- very sticky -- and he was ejected from the game.”

(Via MLB.com)

Suarez denied using any illegal or banned substances.

“Like any day game, I put on some sunscreen, and that’s what they saw,” Suarez said through an interpreter. “That’s what led to their decision to eject me from the game. … I definitely don’t use any illegal substance, any banned substance at all.”

(Via MLB.com)

Suarez will face a 10-game suspension, but will have the right to appeal.

AJ Cassavell of MLB.com noted that hefty amounts of sunscreen and rosin, a sticky substance made from pines and other plants, can combine to make an illegally-sticky substance.

Suarez was wearing a long sleeve shirt under his Padres uniform.

Here are some reactions to the unexpected news out of San Diego: