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

Chicago White Sox right-hander Lance Lynn was ejected from his start on Wednesday against the Oakland Athletics (GameTracker) during a foreign-substance check. Lynn seemingly was not tossed because he was found to have a substance on his person or his glove, but, rather, because he irked an umpire by tossing his belt at him from the dugout.

Lynn and White Sox manager Tony La Russa went onto the field to discuss the matter with the umpiring staff, but he remained ejected all the same.

Lynn, 34, had held the Athletics to one run in four innings despite allowing a lot of traffic on the basepaths. Indeed, he had permitted three hits and three walks to go with his four strikeouts. He even had to escape a bases-loaded, no-out situation in the third, striking out two consecutive batters before inducing an inning-ending pop-up.

Lance Lynn was ejected from the game after it appeared he tossed his belt toward the umpire during a foreign substance check pic.twitter.com/fcTEsM3iI5

— A's on NBCS (@NBCSAthletics) August 19, 2021

Chicago White Sox, Lance Lynn agree to 2-year, $38M extension

For Lance Lynn, it was pretty simple.

“There’s no point in going into free agency if you know where you want to be,” he said.

Lynn is enjoying his first season on the South Side of Chicago, and the White Sox feel the same way. So they solidified their relationship Saturday, announcing a two-year, $38 million contract extension for the All-Star right-hander.

The 34-year-old Lynn is 9-3 with an American League-best 1.99 ERA in 16 starts. He was acquired in a December trade with the Texas Rangers for right-hander Dane Dunning and lefty Avery Weems.

With Lynn helping anchor the rotation, the White Sox had an eight-game lead in the American League Central heading into Saturday’s game against the Houston Astros.

“They’ve put together a winner here,” Lynn said. “That’s what I want to be part of and help to kind of push it over the top to get a championship.”

Lynn will make $18.5 million in each of the next two seasons. The White Sox have an $18 million option for 2024 with a $1 million buyout.