SEE IT: Scherzer’s stare down leads to ejection of Girardi originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington
Major League Baseball’s recent crack down on foreign substance checks with pitchers was always going to have unforeseen consequences, but none have been more glaring than the mid-inning check Phillies manager Joe Girardi ordered on Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer on Tuesday night.
Scherzer, who returned from a brief stint on the 10-day Injured List with a minor groin pull, was in-between batters when Girardi used his new resource to try and disrupt the 36-year-old right-handed ace — despite having already ordered checks from the umpires before the fifth inning.
When Scherzer got out the inning unscathed, finishing his five innings pitched having allowed just two hits and one earned run, he stared down Girardi in the opposing dugout. Girardi, baffled that Scherzer would be irked with his managerial tactics, came rushing out and motioned for Scherzer to come over and talk to him before getting ejected.
With Girardi walking out of the dugout with his 40th career ejection, Scherzer displayed his hat and glove flipped toward Philadelphia’s sideline in the best possible troll job.
As MLB continues to find the best solutions to rid the game of excess sticky substances in pitchers’ articles of clothing and find more offense this season, situations like this will have to remedied quickly.