C.J. Wilson was forced out of his Game 2 start in the seventh inning by a blister on his left middle finger, explaining afterward that it “just ripped open” and kept him from being able to “throw anything beside the curveball for a strike” to Cody Ross, who walked leading off the inning.
Wilson explained after the game that he’s been pitching through blister problems for much of the season and promised to be “fine” for his potential Game 6 start Wednesday in San Francisco.
He also revealed that he used super glue to keep the blister closed in the early innings last night, which as David Brown of Yahoo! Sports notes could be something with which the umpires take issue.
Brown recalled that Zach Day of the then-Expos was ejected from a game in 2003 for having super glue on a blister, with umpire Bill Miller explaining at the time: “He had a foreign substance on his person and that means he is in violation of this rule.” And sure enough, under rule 8.02 (b) “a pitcher is automatically ejected if he is found with any foreign substance on his fingers.”
Miller is coincidentally also on the World Series umpiring crew, so presumably he’ll take an added interest in Wilson’s blister if the left-hander is on the mound for Game 6.