Washington Nationals Rapid Reaction: Bryce Harper’s Ejection Highlights Wild Night At Citi Field

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