Yankees Pitcher Suspended For 10 Games After Being Ejected For Pine Tar Use

    Michael Pineda was ejected from Wednesday's game against the Boston Red Sox after umpires went to the mound to investigate what appeared to be pine tar. MLB announced his suspension Thursday.

    Michael Rusch
    by Michael Rusch

    BuzzFeed News Reporter

    You can clearly see that something does appear to be on the right side of Yankee pitcher, Michael Pineda's neck:

    Jason Mastrodonato @JMastrodonato

    Michael Pineda, pine tar, again.

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    Bleacher Report @BleacherReport

    Yankees’ Michael Pineda ejected for having pine tar on his neck.

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    A closer view of the suspicious substance:

    John Feitelberg @JFeitelberg

    Is there anyone in the world worse at hiding pine tar than Pineda? Jesus dude

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    When an umpire came to the mound to check it out, Pineda was immediately ejected.

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    Pineda was also caught with a foreign substance on his pitching hand on April 10, which he dismissed as dirt:

    AP Photo/Kathy Willens

    Pitchers use the sticky stuff to get a better grip on the ball, but Major League Baseball prohibits the use of foreign substances, like pine tar, in the game.

    AP

    Rule 8.02(b) says a pitcher shall not "have on his person, or in his possession, any foreign substance. For such infraction of this section the penalty shall be immediate ejection from the game. In addition, the pitcher shall be suspended automatically."

    UPDATE: Pineda has been suspended for 10 games by the MLB.

    Usa Today Sports / Reuters / Reuters

    The Yankees have an off day in the next 10 days so Pineda will likely only miss one start during that time, but he of course also got the early hook Wednesday night.

    "I apologize to my teammates, and to everybody,'' Pineda said after the game. "I'll learn from this mistake. It won't happen again.''

    "He used poor judgment tonight,'' Yankees manager Joe Girardi said.

    "He'll admit to that. But, you can look at everybody in that room, we have not always made the best decisions in our life. You learn from them…He feels like he let his teammates down.''