"Asked the umpire to check the hands" - Astros flamethrower Ronel Blanco reflects on events leading to controversial ejection

In Tuesday's game between the Houston Astros and Oakland Athletics, a controversial moment occurred that led to the ejection of Astros rookie pitcher Ronel Blanco. The right-hand pitcher has opened up about the events that unfolded during the match in a post-game interview.

“They told me that they found something sticky in the glove and that was the reason why they told me I couldn’t continue pitching with the glove.

"I asked the umpire to check the hands because if there is something sticky in the glove it should be on the hands,” said Blanco with the help of a team interpreter.

In Tuesday's match, Blanco delivered three scoreless innings against the Oakland Athletics. Before going for the fourth inning, the first base umpire, Erich Bacchus, did a routine check with his glove when they found a foreign substance in his glove. After discussing with the other three umpires, Blanco was eventually ejected by Laz Diaz, who is the third base umpire and the crew chief. His glove was also confiscated.

Blanco stated that the sticky substance in his glove might have been rosin that he had applied on his non-pitching hand. He said he did not know that it was illegal to apply rosin. Nonetheless, he might be facing a suspension of 10 games since he violated the MLB’s foreign substance policy.

"It was probably rosin I put on my left arm. Maybe cause of the sweat, it got into the glove and that's what they maybe found," said Blanco, as per the Athletic.

“No, I didn’t know that was illegal. I see other pitchers come in and do it as well, so I thought that was normal,” added Blanco, as per MLB.

This event was unfortunate for Ronel Blanco. He had a great start to the season. He threw his first no-hitter on April 1. He's recorded an ERA of 2.09 and a WHIP of 1.06 with 45 strikeouts. Before being ejected on Tuesday, he had allowed four runs and struck out a single player. Despite these events, the Astros beat the Athletics 2-1.

Umpire thinks Ronel Blanco's was the stickiest substance he's ever seen

With Astros youngster Ronel Blanco's night ending abruptly on Tuesday against the Athletics, the umpires, however, also had their say on the incident.

"It was the stickiest stuff I've felt on a glove since we've been doing this for a few years now," said Erich Bacchus post-match, as per Yahoo Sports.

The manager of the Astros, Joe Espada, said he also saw rosin mixed with sweat on Blanco’s gloves.

Ronel Blanco said he will file an appeal if he is suspended.