PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Frosty, angry exchanges with Washington Nationals pitcher Max Scherzer over allegations of cheating led the manager of the Philadelphia Phillies to be thrown out of Tuesday's game between the two teams.
Joe Girardi was ejected from Tuesday night's 3-2 Nationals win over the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park, following the last of many checks by umpires for foreign substances on Scherzer. None of those checks led to evidence that Scherzer was cheating.
Those three searches happened in the first four innings of the game, and each time, the umpires found no evidence that the pitcher was cheating. Scherzer's reactions each time conveyed his annoyance.
In one sequence, Scherzer even took off his hat and unbuckled his belt while on the mound.
Scherzer stared down Girardi at the end of the 5th inning when he left the mound to join the Nationals dugout. Then, heading to the top of the 6th, when Girardi left the Phillies dugout for a shouting match with the Nationals, that's when he was thrown out of the game.
It comes as MLB umpires are dramatically increasing enforcement of rules that prohibit particular substances from being used to alter a baseball before a pitch. It follows accusations of such cheating against numerous teams and players across the sport.
Starting pitchers can now expect to be inspected every outing. The Phillies' pitching staff was not immune from being searched.
After the game, Girardi explained his actions.
"I've seen Max a long time, since 2010 — obviously he's gonna be a Hall of Famer — but I've never seen him wipe his head like he was doing tonight, ever," Girardi said. "So, it was suspicious for me."
Scherzer said he was wiping his hair because it was the only place on his body that he could get some moisture to mix with the rosin bag.
"I have to be an absolute fool to actually use something tonight when everybody's antennas are so far high, they look for anything. So, it is what it is. Whatever. Turn the page and move on," Scherzer said.
"I wasn't heated. It was just trying to show I have absolutely zero on me. I have nothing on me. Check whatever you want. I'll take off all my clothes if you wanna see me. I have nothing on me."
Some baseball insiders say Girardi's move was disrespectful to Scherzer. Los Angeles Dodgers star pitcher Clayton Kershaw commented all the way from California.
"You better find something if you're gonna call him out like that. So, maybe there should be like a punishment if a manager checks a guy and there isn't anything, or something like that," Kershaw said.
"If you call somebody out — anybody, but somebody of Max Scherzer's caliber — and you don't find anything, I think that looks petty on ... the manager's part."
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Girardi said he didn't mean to offend anyone and insisted he has respect for Scherzer and the Nationals.
"I wasn't challenging their club. There were some coaches that were screaming at me and coaches that I know and it bothered me. I'm not playing games. Trying to win games here."
He said he understood why he was ejected from the game.
"And I don't have a problem if [Nationals manager Dave Martinez] is mad at me. I don't," he said. "But, I thought they were attacking me, and that's ok too."