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Astros' Ronel Blanco suspended after being ejected when foreign substance found in glove

Astros Ronel Blanco
Ronel Blanco has been suspended for 10 games. Photo by Logan Riely/Getty Images.

Astros starter Ronel Blanco received a 10-game suspension Wednesday for violating MLB’s prohibitions on foreign substances after being ejected from the game against the Oakland Athletics.

The suspension was announced by Michael Hill, MLB’s senior vice president of on-field operations. The suspension will begin Wednesday night unless Blanco appeals the penalty, which also includes an undisclosed fine.

Blanco was ejected at the start of the fourth inning of the 2-1 win over Oakland on Tuesday after umpires found a foreign substance that first base umpire Erich Bacchus said was “the stickiest stuff I’ve felt on a glove.”

Third base umpire Laz Diaz ejected Blanco after a check of his glove before he threw a pitch in the fourth inning. The umpires, Blanco and Houston manager Joe Espada stood at the mound for a couple of minutes discussing the issue before the right-hander was ejected.

Bacchus said there was nothing on Blanco’s glove when he checked it in the middle of the first, but he discovered it when he did his second check before the fourth.

“I felt something inside the glove,” Bacchus said. “It was the stickiest stuff I’ve felt on a glove since we’ve been doing this for a few years now.”

After Bacchus discovered the substance he called the rest of the crew in to confer.

“Everybody checked the glove to make sure we all had the same thing and he had to get ejected because he had a foreign substance on his glove,” Diaz said.

Blanco denied using an illegal substance.

“Just probably rosin I put on my left arm,” he said in Spanish through a translator. “Maybe because of the sweat it got into the glove and that’s maybe what they found.”

Espada added that when he went to the mound he saw “white powder” inside Blanco’s glove.

“It looked to me when I grabbed the glove (that) there was some rosin,” Espada said. “You’re not allowed to use rosin on your non-pitching hand and that’s what it looked like to me. It was a little bit sticky with the moisture and the sweat but that’s what it looked like to me.”

Blanco, who threw a no-hitter in his season debut, allowed four hits and struck out one in three scoreless innings Tuesday. He has a 2.09 ERA this season.

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CultureMap's signature event The Tailgate (shown here in 2023) is coming back for 2024. Photo by Marco Torres / @MarcoFromHouston

CultureMap is gearing up for the exciting return of The Tailgate, our all-out party devoted to everyone’s favorite way to get in the gameday spirit.

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Attendees can look forward to food from favorite Houston restaurants and premium cocktails.Photo by Marco Torres / @MarcoFromHouston

Following up on the success of last year’s Ultimate Sports Bar Showdown, we’ll soon be asking readers to vote for their favorite wing joint of 2024. Our editors have put together a list of 16 candidates that will go head-to-head in a bracket-style tournament we're calling the Ultimate Wing Showdown. Your winner will be revealed at the party.

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The Tailgate is sponsored by Verizon, HOWDY, Jameson Irish Whiskey, Houston Powder Coaters, Holey Moley Golf Club, Mizzen+Main, Shipley Do-nuts and more to be announced.

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