Max Scherzer wasn't the only National to take exception with Phillies manager Joe Girardi's actions Tuesday night.
Scherzer, who had been checked twice in the game already, had to remove his cap in the fourth inning as umpires tousled his hair, running their fingers through it to check for foreign substances after Girardi insisted he'd "never seen [Scherzer] wipe his head like he was doing tonight."
"Obviously the checks are the checks," Nationals slugger Kyle Schwarber told SiriusXM's MLB Network Radio on Wednesday. "But the extra check there is, you know, I think that's a little bush league."
Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo believes Girardi was being disingenuous, having no intention behind seeking a third check of Scherzer other than "breaking Max's rhythm and frustrating him."
"He's a con artist," Rizzo said bluntly of Girardi on The Sports Junkies. "He's been doing that for years on TV."
"If I was Max, I would have done the same thing," Schwarber said. "I would have been losing my mind and definitely been giving the stare-down after the inning's over. Because pretty much all it is there is someone trying to get Max out of his rhythm."
"And it was just like poking the bear," he said. "Girardi poked the bear and [Max] went out there and shoved for the last couple outs there."
