The Miami Marlins are 13-32, dead last in the National League East and tied for the worst record in Major League Baseball with the equally sad Houston Astros. So perhaps Marlins starting pitcher Alex Sanabia can be forgiven for his egregious cheating Monday night against the Philadelphia Phillies after surrendering a home run to Phillies' outfielder Domonic Brown in the second inning. Click here to see Sanabia load up the baseball with saliva.
Sanabia (3-6, 4.56 ERA) has not been very good this season. He has only pitched more than six innings twice in nine starts and has struck out just four more batters than he's walked. With that in mind, his performance following the home run to Brown was downright sterling; his line at the end of the night was 6.1 innings pitched, seven hits, one run, three strikeouts, one walk and his first win since mid-April.
Due to the wonders of television, however, cold water was quickly poured onto Sanabia's hot start. Following the home run, Sanabia was clearly seen spitting on the baseball, an old and illegal trick used to help pitchers get a better grip, and in turn, more movement on their pitches.
According to Yahoo! Sports, Sanabia is likely to be warned by the league, and possibly fined although a suspension is unlikely. This incident comes on the heels of another high-profile accusation of cheating involving Red Sox pitcher Clay Buchholz.
Buchholz' case was not nearly as iron-clad as this incident, but Toronto Blue Jays announcers Dirk Hayhurst and Jack Morris accused Buchholz of cheating during a recent game. Afterward, Morris stuck to his guns saying, "I found out because the guys on the video camera showed it to me right after the game. I didn't see it during the game. They showed it to me and said, 'What do you think of this?' and I said, 'Well, he's throwing a spitter. Cause that's what it is."
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