BOSTON – A Cardinals minor leaguer has suggested Boston pitcher Jon Lester may have used a foreign substance to aid his pitches during his win over St. Louis in the World Series opener.
Tyler Melling wrote Wednesday night on Twitter: "Jon Lester using a little Vaseline inside the glove tonight?" The 25-year-old pitcher with Palm Beach in the Florida State League posted a screen shot appearing to show discoloration on Lester's black glove.
Section 8.02 of the Official Baseball Rules says a pitcher "shall not apply a foreign substance of any kind to the ball" and says the penalty for a violation is ejection and an automatic suspension.
Major League Baseball said in a statement Thursday that "we cannot draw any conclusions from this video. There were no complaints from the Cardinals and the umpires never detected anything indicating a foreign substance throughout the game."
Melling's tweet was later deleted.
Lester allowed five hits in 7 2-3 scoreless innings with eight strikeouts and a walk as the Red Sox won 8-1.
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