With two outs and a man on first in the bottom of the seventh inning on Friday came the pitch felt round the Natosphere. Reds reliever Tony Cingrani drilled Nats slugger Bryce Harper in the back – right between the numbers — with a 94-mile-an-hour fastball.
No matter whether it was intentional, Harper was not happy, and neither were fans posting on Nats message boards. They demanded payback. The most obvious target was Reds first baseman Joey Votto, who exchanged words with the bruised Harper after Harper meandered to first base, then snagged Ryan Zimmerman’s liner to end the inning, and the threat.
The more irate fans were calling for some “old school baseball.” Nats pitcher Blake Treinen, they said, should send a message to Votto and the Reds that they would not take such an insult lying down. To them, “old school baseball” meant getting back at the other team – an eye for an eye.
Cooler heads prevailed in the Nats’ dugout though, and there was no retaliation from Treinen or any of the other Washington pitchers on Friday or throughout the weekend. The last thing a team like the Nats needed at that time was an ejection or a bench-clearing brawl, possibly leading to suspensions. Not with Anthony Rendon and Jayson Werth already on the disabled list, Stephen Strasburg headed there, and Harper hurting from being hit.
But the Nats could still have benefitted from some “old school baseball,” the kind they should have learned in spring training – the kind that means keeping your head in the game and most importantly, pitchers fielding their position. Failures in those areas cost the Nats a chance to win the next two games in the series.
In Saturday’s game, Yunel Escobar got himself tossed for arguing a called third strike in the top of the seventh inning with his team ahead 5-4. He was replaced by Dan Uggla, who would come up as the potential game-tying run in the bottom of the ninth against Reds closer Aroldis Chapman. Escobar, one of the Nats’ best hitters, might have stood a chance to extend the inning against Chapman’s blazing fastball. Uggla was overmatched.
In the bottom of the inning, Casey Janssen was clinging to that one-run lead with one out and men on first and second. Brayan Pena’s grounder caromed off Ryan Zimmerman’s glove and right to Uggla. Had Janssen fielded his position and covered first, Pena would have been forced out, giving Janssen a chance to get out of the inning. Instead, the base hit set the stage for four Cincinnati runs and an 8-5 loss for the Nats.
On Sunday, Nats reliever Aaron Barrett could not take advantage of a poor bunt by Billy Hamilton with a man on first in the bottom of the seventh, dropping the pop-up. It might have been a double play, or at least kept the speedy Hamilton off the bases. Instead, all the Nats got was a force out at second, and Hamilton made the Nats pay by stealing second, getting in position to score to go-ahead run on Brandon Phillips’ single, ending Barrett’s day.
The game unraveled quickly after that, but the fielding lapse gave the Reds the opening they needed to win 8-2 and complete the sweep.
Some “old school baseball” surely would have helped the Nats avoid their worst stretch in a month, at the hands of one of the lowliest teams in the National League. But not the kind that calls for retaliation and possible injuries and punishment. The Nats need to get back to the “old school baseball” that means playing smart and keeping their heads in the game. That’s how they will live up to their full potential this season.
