PITTSBURGH (AP) — Arizona Diamondbacks left-hander Caleb Smith has been suspended 10 games and fined an undisclosed amount for having a foreign substance on his glove during a game last week.
Smith’s suspension, announced on Tuesday, is the second this season as Major League Baseball cracks down on pitchers using sticky substances to get a better grip on the ball. Seattle’s Hector Santiago had his 10-game suspension issued last month upheld after an appeal.
Smith has elected to appeal his suspension, which was scheduled to begin when the Diamondbacks played at Pittsburgh Tuesday night.
Smith had his glove confiscated after he came off the field in the eighth inning against Philadelphia last Wednesday and was ejected. The Diamondbacks will not be able to fill his spot on the 26-man roster during the suspension.
All pitchers are being checked by umpires during games for illicit grip aids since the crackdown started on June 21.
The 30-year-old Smith is in his his fifth big league season with his third team. The left-hander is 4-8 with a 5.20 ERA this season, his second with Arizona after being traded by Miami last year. He also pitched for the New York Yankees.
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