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Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated
Sport
Mike McDaniel

Sports World Reacts to Umpire’s Bizarre Ear Check of Padres Pitcher

Fresh off blowing a 10.5 game lead in the NL East, the Mets were faced with a brutal best-of-three wild-card series against the Padres.

With the series tied at one game a piece, Sunday night’s rubber match would decide who makes it through to the NLDS to play the Dodgers.

In the sixth inning on Sunday night with the Padres leading 4–0, Mets manager Buck Showalter requested that the umpires check San Diego pitcher Joe Musgrove behind the ears for foreign substances. 

Musgrove was superb in Sunday night’s elimination game, going seven innings while giving up one hit, one walk and no runs while striking out five.

It may have been a case of gamesmanship for Showalter, who could have been looking for any edge necessary to crack Musgrove as the Mets stared elimination square in the face.

The reactions across the internet to the incident were a sight to behold. Here are the best reactions seen on social media on Sunday night.

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