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Mize blasts umpire who forced him to change gloves: 'Shitty thing to do'

Gregory Shamus / Getty Images Sport / Getty

Detroit Tigers right-hander Casey Mize was upset with an umpire after being forced to change his glove during his start against the Kansas City Royals on Tuesday.

"I thought it was pretty shitty, pretty shitty thing to do," Mize said, according to Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press. "I assume everyone thinks that I was using sticky stuff, which I was not. I just thought the timing of it was pretty shitty, honestly."

Mize said home plate umpire John Tumpane asked him to make the change between the first and second innings because his glove's charcoal gray color was "too light."

Tumpane's request came hours after MLB said it'll crack down on foreign substances being applied to baseballs starting June 21.

"The umpires need to get on the same page because I've made 12 starts (with the glove), and everybody was fine with it, or John Tumpane just needs to have some feel and let me pitch with the glove that the other team did not complain about," Mize said.

"John's a good umpire and a very nice guy, just have some feel for the situation. I hate that I'm in a position now where I assume everyone thinks I was using sticky. In reality, that was not the situation at all."

After throwing a scoreless first inning, Mize and his new glove - one he borrowed from teammate Kyle Funkhouser - went on to allow three earned runs on seven hits over 6 2/3 innings. He earned his fourth win of the season with Detroit's 4-3 victory over Kansas City.

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