Milwaukee Brewers reliever Will Smith stormed off the field Thursday night in Atlanta following his ejection in the seventh inning after crew chief Jim Joyce discovered a foreign substance on his non-throwing arm.
Smith inherited an unenviable situation when he was summoned from the bullpen in the bottom of the seventh, his club trailing 2-1 with runners on second and third and only one out. The 25-year-old promptly hit pinch-hitter Pedro Ciriaco with an 0-2 pitch to load the bases, though, and his errant offering prompted Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez to ask the umpiring crew to check his right wrist.
(Courtesy: MLB.com)
After a quick examination, Smith was ejected from the game without protest, though he did hurl a quick expletive towards the Braves dugout as he walked off the field.
"I had to kind of get ready in a hurry and I forgot (to remove the substance)," Smith told Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel after the game.
Gonzalez, however, was unapologetic about asking the umpires to check Smith's arm.
"When [an opponent] tries to be that blatant, sometimes you just have to do what you have to do," Gonzalez told MLB.com.
Smith, who was replaced on the mound by fellow left-hander Neal Cotts, confirmed the illicit substance on his arm was a combination of rosin and sunscreen.
"I'm a competitor," Smith added. "You want to stay in the game and pitch. It was a big situation. I was pissed I got thrown out."