Written by Mark Saxon at ESPN.com
Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina wasn’t sure how a baseball stuck to his chest protector after a wild pitch by Brett Cecil in the seventh inning, but it wasn’t as funny after Kyle Schwarber hit a three-run homer two batters later to propel the Cubs to a 6-4 victory Thursday.
TV close-ups of Molina’s chest protector later showed a white, star-shaped smudge low on his chest protector where the ball was stuck a few seconds earlier. Molina took exception when a reporter asked if he puts pine tar or another foreign substance on his gear.
“Do I put anything on my chest protector? No. That’s a dumb question,” said Molina, who could not locate the ball as it clung to him, which helped set up Chicago’s rally.
Catchers sometimes put pine tar somewhere on their uniforms, often around the shin guards, to help give them a better grip. There are no rules against the practice, though it is against the rules for players to have pine tar on their skin, or to place it on the ball. Umpires could have addressed the matter had the Cubs made an issue of it, but that wasn’t the case Thursday.
Molina was certain about one thing.
“That play changed everything,” he said. “If we get that first out, everything changes.”
It allowed Cubs pinch hitter Matt Szczur to reach first base after a swinging third strike to lead off the seventh inning. Molina repeatedly spun around, looking for the ball, and smiled upon seeing where it wound up.
After a walk to Jon Jay, Schwarber homered to right to give the Cubs a 5-4 lead.
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