Baltimore Orioles Brian Matusz Appeals 8-Game Suspension

Baltimore Orioles Brian Matusz has appealed his 8-game suspension and is available to pitch until the appeal is heard. Major League Baseball suspended the pitcher on Monday for using a sticky, illegal substance on his right arm.

Matusz did not comment about the incident after the Orioles lost to the Miami Marlins 1-0 on Saturday.

"We're not going to address the issue right now," Matusz said according to ESPN.com. "Obviously I have my own personal opinions about the issue, but right now with emotions running high we're going to let this settle and address questions at a later time."

Matusz came into the game in the 12th inning. He retired the first two batters before Marlins manager Dan Jennings approached the Jordan Baker, the home plate umpire. Baker and crew chief Paul Emmel then inspected Matusz's arm.

"We saw something shiny on his arm," Jennings said. "We watched a couple of pitches to make sure he went to it. By their opinion there was a foreign substance there, they made their decision."

"I went out there and told the pitcher I was going to touch his right forearm," Emmel said. "That's where he was touching before he went to the ball. I detected a foreign substance, so the pitcher was ejected."

Emmel spoke with Orioles manager Buck Showalter before he ejected Matusz.

Matusz is the second pitcher in less than a week to be penalized for using a foreign substance on his arm. The other pitcher was Milwaukee Brewers Will Smith, who has appealed his 8-game suspension as well.

Matusz is 1-2 and has an ERA of 3.18 in 14 appearance so far this season.