Then came the boos.

As the 25-year-old right-hander approached the Mets dugout, the umpires stopped him. Then, they demanded a dreaded foreign substance check – spoiling his special moment.

Mets fans booed the umpires until the search was completed. The SNY booth chimed in with their displeasure and felt that the search was “unbelievable,” especially after the fanfare that Megill was enjoying.

“Talk about a buzzkill,” Gary Cohen said. “I mean, he’s getting this great ovation walking off and they’re gonna do a strip search?”

Megill had already finished his contribution to the Mets’ 7-3 win. If he was caught with illegal sticky substances, it would be too late to do anything about it.

“They want to make sure he doesn’t stick to his steering wheel. Unbelievable,” Ron Darling responded.

Megill was called up from Triple-A Syracuse on Wednesday to pitch against the Braves, with Marcus Stroman and Joey Lucchesi injured.

On Monday, umpires started checking pitcher’s gloves, hats, and belts for illegal sticky substances. Since then, many aces have become frustrated with the increased patrols.

Within 24 hours of the new policy, both Nationals’ Max Scherzer and A’s Sergio Romo threatened to take off their pants off during checks. Scherzer was searched three times during a Tuesday night game against the Phillies, one time being at the request from Philadelphia manager Joe Girardi, who said Scherzer seemed “suspicious.”

This story originally appeared on: NyPost - Author:Elizabeth Karpen