Cardinals Minor Leaguer Accuses Jon Lester Of Doctoring Ball In Game 1
BOSTON (CBS) - Jon Lester's dominating performance on Wednesday night in Game 1 of the World Series has one St. Louis Cardinals minor leaguer crying foul.
Lester shut down the Cardinals for 7 2/3 innings, striking out eight along the way. But shortly after Boston's 8-1 win, Cardinals minor league pitcher Tyler Melling tweeted out a picture of Lester, wondering if the Sox lefty had some Vaseline in his glove to aid his performance.
Melling's Tweet, which has since been removed from his account, shows a picture of Lester's glove where it does appear there is a yellow-green substance between the thumb and webbing. There is also a Vine video posted by an apparent Cardinals fan showing Lester going to his glove during the seventh inning.
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Does any of this mean anything? No.
MLB released the following statement shortly after the story picked up steam Thursday morning:
"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."
Cardinals GM John Mozeliak called the story a "non-issue" and said his team will not pursue the issue with MLB.
"It's something that arose in social media and not from our players or manager or our coaching staff," Mozeliak told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch on Thursday. "To me it does not represent a concern."
So the story is likely over, but the controversy will live on.
This isn't the first time the Cardinals have been involved in some controversy about an opposing pitcher during the World Series.
In 2006, Detroit Tigers pitcher Kenny Rogers was accused by the Cardinals of doctoring the baseball following a Detroit win in Game 2. There was no investigation by MLB, as umpires determined it was dirt -- not pine tar -- on Rogers' hand.
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This isn't the first accusation towards the Red Sox either though. Earlier this season, members of the Toronto Blue Jays media accused Clay Buchholz of doctoring the ball, accusations Boston manager John Farrell angrily called "unfounded."
Farrell will probably have a similar reaction when he's asked about the latest accusation on Thursday.
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