San Diego Padres pitcher Joe Musgrove was dealing against the New York Mets on Sunday night. And on the strength of his performance, his team is moving on to the National League Division Series.

However, the game wasn't without controversy. As the sixth inning began, Mets manager Buck Showalter emerged from the dugout. He asked the umpires to inspect Musgrove's ear for a foreign substance. The pitcher passed, and the Padres won 6-0.

Following the game, Musgrove spoke to the media about the inspection. “I get it, dude. They're on their last leg, they're desperate, doing everything they can to get me out of the game,” the Padres pitcher said. “It motivated me a little bit. It fired me up.”

Musgrove wasn't the only one with something to say about the incident. Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Andrew McCutchen took to Twitter with his belief around what the Padres pitcher had on his ear.

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“I guarantee Musgrove has Red Hot on his ears. Pitchers use it as mechanism to stay locked in during games. It burns like crazy and IDK why some guys thinks it helps them but in no way is it ‘sticky,'” McCutchen said.

Despite this belief, the Brewers outfielder didn't fault Showalter for the attempt. “Buck is smart tho. Could be trying to just throw him off,” he said.

Musgrove did enjoy an uptick in his spin rate during the Padres victory Sunday night. However, the San Diego native's velocity also increased during the game against the Mets.

Given that he passed the inspection, it's unlikely Musgrove had anything illegal on his ear. However, one has to wonder whether McCutchen's theory was correct.