What did Joe Musgrove have on his ears? Why did they check Musgrove ears?

In October 2022, during the bottom of the sixth inning of the win-or-go-home Game 3 of the Wild Card Series, Padres starting pitcher Joe Musgrove was checked by the umpiring crew for a possible illegal substance.

This was after Mets manager Buck Showalter had a quick conference to request the check with the umpires, who chatted together and then checked Musgrove.

According to MLB rules: “Any pitcher who possesses or applies foreign substances will be subject to immediate ejection from the game and suspended automatically in accordance with the rules. If a player other than the pitcher is found to have applied a foreign substance to the ball, both the position player and pitcher will be ejected.”

However, after the check, the umpires cleared Musgrove of any wrongdoing and he stayed in the game.

At the end of the game, Musgrove ended up throwing seven scoreless innings while allowing only one hit, becoming the first pitcher to throw at least seven innings and allow less than two hits in an elimination game in MLB history.