Major League Baseball won’t be taking any action against the Cardinals’ Yadier Molina after a wayward pitch stuck to the catcher’s chest protector during Thursday’s 6-4 loss to the Cubs. According to the official rulebook, the use of any foreign substance on a baseball is strictly prohibited, but there are no provisions in place to punish a non-pitcher who is caught with the substance on his person.
That may be why, as both ESPN’s Mark Saxon and the Chicago Tribune’s Mark Gonzales pointed out, the Cubs did not request that home plate umpire Quinn Wolcott inspect the ball shortly after the incident occurred. After the game, Cubs’ outfielder Jason Heyward explained that Molina had probably used something like pine tar or an adhesive spray called Tuf-Skin to get a better grip on the ball, which inadvertently led to the odd play -- and, later, a blown lead for the Cardinals.
Both Molina and manager Mike Matheny denied any knowledge of a foreign substance on Molina’s uniform. No in-depth explanation has been offered up by the team so far, and with Major League Baseball backing off, it’s unlikely that they’ll volunteer more details anytime soon. As Matheny relayed to MLB.com’s Jenifer Langosch: “I don’t know what happened. I have no idea. I’ve never seen it.”