The Astros' Ronel Blanco was ejected after a foreign object check against Athletics

Houston Astros starting pitcher Ronel Blanco appeared to be on his way to an impressive performance with three scoreless innings in Tuesday's game against the Oakland Athletics.

And then his day ended prematurely.

Blanco was ejected from the game early in the fourth inning when the umpires determined he had a foreign substance on his glove:

Chandler Rome of The Athletic noted that Blanco faces a 10-match ban following the ejection.

Houston turned to Tayler Scott to take Blanco's place after the ejection.

This comes as Blanco appeared to be well on his way to the best season of his career with his excellent start. He entered Tuesday's game with a 4-0 record, 2.23 ERA, 1.02 WHIP and 41 strikeouts in 44.1 innings in seven starts.

His most notable performance came in his first start of the season, throwing a no-hitter in a 10-0 win over the Toronto Blue Jays on April 1. He also allowed more than two earned runs in just one of his first seven starts.

It's a far cry from last season, when the right-hander posted a 4.50 ERA and 1.48 WHIP in 17 appearances last season.

Blanco was a bright spot for the Astros, who struggled en route to a 16:25 start. That's good enough for fourth place in the American League West, and it will be an uphill battle for them to get back into postseason position after such a slow start.

And things will get even more difficult in the near future with Blanco suspended for 10 games.