Fresh off Major League Baseball’s crackdown on foreign substance, Philadelphia Phillies manager Joe Girardi pushed the limit Tuesday night against Max Scherzer and the Washington Nationals.
The NL East divisional contest featured two of the game’s best hurlers with Scherzer and Zack Wheeler on the opposite side. However, the storyline of the night became about Girardi’s gamesmanship.
Wheeler laughed off an earlier umpire check for sticky stuff. But when it was Scherzer’s turn to be checked, the Nationals’ ace didn’t share the same sentiment. As the umpires checked Scherzer, it was clear he was none too pleased.
He was checked again, giving him two checks in the first three inning. That’s bad enough, although within MLB rules. But, what happened in the fourth was the icing on the cake.
Scherzer was checked a third time. This time Girardi had requested the umps to check the three-time Cy Young after he struck out Phillies’ Alec Bohm. With a runner on second base and one out, it was clear Girardi made a move to slow down Scherzer.
Scherzer threw his hat to the ground while jarring with the umpires. Then he unbuckled his belt to imply a strip search. That brought out Nationals manager Dave Martinez who was also upset about the check. Then Martinez and Girardi traded barbs with one another.
It appears Girardi was going against his own words before the game.
Scherzer got out of the jam to maintain the Nationals’ 3-1 lead. He came back out for the fifth inning, finishing it off with a strikeout of JT Realmuto. Then Scherzer stared down Girardi. That prompted an animated Girardi to run onto the field before being stopped by the umpires.
The umpires had enough of Girardi’s antics and ejected the Phillies manager from the game.
It was a smart play by Scherzer. He understood he was done for the night after throwing 106 pitches. He struck out eight while allowing one run off two hits and three walks.Thus, he made sure to toy back at Girardi, drawing the manager’s ejection with his final pitch of the night.
The Nationals won the game 3-2 by the way…
