Washington Nationals Rapid Reaction: Bryce Harper’s Ejection Highlights Wild Night At Citi Field
Jul 31, 2015; New York City, NY, USA; New York Mets shortstop Wilmer Flores (4) rounds the bases on his walk off home run to left during the twelfth inning against the Washington Nationals at Citi Field. New York Mets won 2-1 in twelve innings. Mandatory Credit: Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports
It was a playoff atmosphere at Citi Field last night as the Washington Nationals began a three game series at Citi Field against the New York Mets. The Nats entered play with a three game lead in the NL East and were looking to keep their psychological advantage over the Mets. However, that ended up not being the case. In the bottom of the 12th inning, Wilmer Flores, who was nearly traded two days ago by the Mets for Carlos Gomez, hit a leadoff walk-off home run against Felipe Rivero to cap a crazy game.
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Both teams know they had to get the win and it was a matter of who would blink first. The game could easily be summed up in one at-bat. That came in the top of the eighth inning when former Nats’ setup man Tyler Clippard squared off against Jayson Werth in a 13-pitch at-bat. Clippard would end up striking out Werth looking, but it was an entertaining at-bat to watch.
Before extra innings, the Nationals offense could not get a hit against Matt Harvey for the first five innings, but they finally got on the board in the top of the eighth when Yunel Escobar hit a two-out RBI single to center to score Danny Espinosa, who was pinch running for Clint Robinson after he was hit by a pitch.
The series will have another added twist tonight when Yoenis Cespedes is expected to make his Mets debut in left field after being traded from the Detroit Tigers yesterday. Before Jacob deGrom takes on Joe Ross tonight at 7:10 PM ET (MASN), here are my takeaways from last night’s 2-1 loss:
Next: Gonzalez struggles, but keeps Nats in game
Jul 31, 2015; New York City, NY, USA; Washington Nationals starting pitcher Gio Gonzalez (47) pitches during the first inning against the New York Mets at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports
Gonzalez’s Command Shaky, But Holds Mets To One Run
In a rotation that has Max Scherzer and Jordan Zimmermann, Gio Gonzalez has arguably been the best starter in the Nats rotation this month. Gonzalez has a tall task going up against Matt Harvey, who has dominated the Nationals over his career.
Even though Gonzalez held the Mets to one run in a no-decision, he was not able to give the team length in this game. The left-hander went five innings, gave up the lone run on four hits, struck out six, and walked four on 105 pitches (59 strikes).
The one stat that stands out was the walks. In the five starts Gonzalez had in the month of July, he had no walks in two of them. In the other three starts, he walked ten. The one inning that gave Gonzalez trouble was the fourth inning.
Out of the 41 pitches he threw in that fourth inning, only 20 of them went for strikes. After getting the first two batters out, Gonzalez walked Juan Uribe and Travis d’Arnaud to keep the inning going. Then, Wilmer Flores would get the first of his two big hits as he hit a ball that went off Ian Desmond’s glove and into left field for a base hit that scored Uribe.
While you have to give Gonzalez credit for keeping the Mets to one run, he has to do a better job of keeping his command, especially when Jose Lobaton is behind the plate. Lobaton should be his catcher because that’s when he pitches at his best, but the Nats need Gonzalez to avoid giving up too many free passes.
Even though Gonzalez had a rough night, give the bullpen a lot of credit. Even though Felipe Rivero gave up the walk-off to Flores, the Nationals’ bullpen gave up two hits over the final 6.1 innings and struck out seven Mets.
Next: Nats' Offense Doesn't Get Little Things Done
Jul 31, 2015; New York City, NY, USA; Washington Nationals first baseman Clint Robinson (25) walks after being hit by a pitch during the eighth inning against the New York Mets at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports
Nats Struggle To Do Little Things On Offense
When you go up against a pitcher that has great ability like Matt Harvey (7.2 innings, one run, five hits, nine strikeouts, no walks), you go into that start knowing that scoring chances are likely to be few and far between. For the first five innings, Washington couldn’t get a baseruner against Harvey even though they had several hard hit balls.
Then, in the sixth, Jose Lobaton would hit a single past Flores and into left field for the first hit. However, Tanner Roark was not able to get the bunt down and he struck out on an attempted bunt. While Anthony Rendon would hit a bloop single to right to put runners on the corners, Yunel Escobar grounded out to third to end the inning.
One inning later, Jayson Werth blooped a double of his own down the right field line to begin the inning. With the team down 1-0, it was up to Bryce Harper to move the runner over, but he swung at the first pitch and grounded out to short. It was a bad night for Harper as he is now 0-for-17 against Harvey, but we will get more into that later.
Despite those two missed opportunities, Washington did get a run back thanks to some help. With two outs, it was ruled that Clint Robinson was hit by a pitch and the call stood on review, but it did not look like it hit him. Then, Anthony Rendon hit a groundball to third that Juan Uribe slipped, which allowed Espinosa (running for Robinson) to reach base. With Harvey getting tired, Escobar picked up a big RBI single up the middle to tie the game.
When you are going up against elite pitching, you have to do the little things right to get the win. In this case, Washington failed in those chances, leaving seven men on base, going 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position, and not getting a hit after Escobar’s RBI single in the eighth.’
Next: Harper's Ejection Comes At Bad Time
Jul 30, 2015; Miami, FL, USA; Washington Nationals right fielder Bryce Harper (34) takes the field during the sixth inning against the Miami Marlins at Marlins Park. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports
Harper’s Ejection Comes At Awful Time
Bryce Harper has had an excellent season for the Nationals and there’s no denying that. However, there have been times this season where Harper has gotten himself thrown out of games when his team needs him on the field. That exact scenario happened last night.
It was already a rough night for Harper as he did not get a hit against Harvey and his 25-game on-base streak and 44-game road on-base streak came to an end. However, the night ended poorly for the 22-year-old.
In the top of the 11th inning, Harper struck out looking on a fastball by Hansel Robles that appeared to be outside. Harper got angry, got in the home plate umpire ‘s (Jerry Meals) face and got thrown out of the game for the third time this season.
Due to the Nationals having a short bench, Dan Uggla had to come in and play first base for the first time in his Major League career while Ryan Zimmermann had to play left field and he just came back from the plantar fasciitis injury.
Here is what Harper had to tell the media after the game:
Bryce Harper on Jerry Meals ejecting him: "I was sticking up for my team and myself at the same time. He was bad all night." #Nats
— Chris Johnson (@ceejjohnson18) August 1, 2015
While Meals had some questionable calls in this game, that is not an excuse for Harper to get thrown out in an important game. It is the third time that he was ejected this season and for the sixth time in his career. He has to understand that there is a way to voice your argument and not end up costing your team.
Yes, Harper is only 22 years old, but he has to start realizing that while he was trying to help his team, he risks hurting his team whenever he takes himself out of a game.