White Sox’s Lance Lynn ejected after throwing belt at umpire during foreign substance check

Lance Lynn earned an ejection during a foreign substance check, but not for having a foreign substance.

Lynn was thrown out of Wednesday’s game between the White Sox and A’s after four innings. The Chicago starter was checked after the top of the fourth and tossed his belt out of the dugout toward third base umpire Nic Lentz.

You can see the belt go flying in the bottom left-hand corner of this video, via the A’s on NBC Sports Twitter account.

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Lentz wasted little time after the belt toss in tossing Lynn, who shouted at the umpires as he left the dugout.

Lynn blamed Lentz for the whole thing because Lentz didn’t start the inspection on time.

“I was coming off the mound, he was late getting over, so I left my glove and my hat (on the dugout railing), and then while I going down in the dugout trying to see the trainers because I’m dealing with something, he yells at me that he needs to see my belt. So I tossed it up and then he throws me out,” Lynn said after the White Sox’s 3-2 victory. “I’m trying to get some work done to go back out for the fifth, and obviously I hurt his feelings. 

“He threw me out because I tossed my belt. I said ‘well, if you were over there on time we wouldn’t have this problem. I’m already in the dugout,'” Lynn added, per The Athletic (subscription required).

Before exiting, Lynn — who leads the American League with a 2.26 ERA — had allowed one run, three hits and three walks over four innings while throwing 88 pitches. He was relieved by left-hander Garrett Crochet.

Lynn had played in 281 MLB games over 10 seasons without being ejected prior to his outburst. It’s unclear exactly what caused his frustration to boil over Wednesday.