There was a bit of controversy in the the opening game of the Rays and Nationals interleague series on Tuesday night. Tampa Bay reliever Joel Peralta was ejected from the game as he was warming up at the start of the bottom half of the eighth inning. Peralta was ejected for having a foreign substance on his glove. Umpire Tim Tschida sent him to showers, instantly igniting speculation.
Peralta was formerly with the Nationals organization, playing for Triple-A Syracuse as recently as two years ago. Adam Kilgore of The Washington Post points out the connection:
In 2010, Joel Peralta pitched for Class AAA Syracuse, managed by current Nats first base coach Trent Jewett. Could he have known?
— Adam Kilgore (@AdamKilgoreWP) June 20, 2012
In a bit of gamesmanship to start the top of the ninth, Rays' manager Joe Maddon had the umpires check the cap of Nationals' reliever Ryan Mattheus.
Video of the ejection is below.
For more news, analysis, and discussion on the Nationals, visit Federal Baseball. For more on the Rays throughout this interleague series, visit DRaysBay.