Watch: Madison Bumgarner ejected after altercation with umpire over sticky stuff check (Video)
By Josh Hill
Arizona Diamondbacks starter Madison Bumgarner was ejected and needed to be held back after objecting to a sticky stuff check after one inning.
It was a good day to bet the Madison Bumgarner unders but a particularly bad one to be on the umpiring crew for the Diamondbacks-Marlins matinee matchup.
After just one inning of work, Bumgarner was ejected after a colorful exchange of words with umpire Dan Bellino who was checking the pitcher for sticky stuff. These sorts of checks created tension between pitchers and umpires when they were introduced a year ago but have now become commonplace when a pitcher leaves the mound after an inning is over.
To be clear, Bumgarner was not ejected because he had sticky stuff on him rather it was the exchange with Bellino that got him tossed. In fact, the entire altercation seems to be on Bumgarner who was dismissed by Bellino and was walking back to the dugout when he decided to quite literally choose violence rather than complete his start on Wednesday.
Bumgarner needed to be restrained after he objected to the sticky stuff hand check.
The source of the altercation appears to be the difference in hand checks between Bumgarner and Miami Marlins starter Elieser Hernandez was checked after he walked off the mound following his first inning of work.
As if the blowup wasn’t insane on its own, the ejection came after just a single inning of work for Bumgarner.