Marlins 16, Nats 10
Well, that was one for the ages. You think a September game between the Nats and Marlins at an empty Sun Life Stadium can’t be interesting? Nyjer Morgan – who has had himself one bizarre two-week stretch – took it to a whole new level on Wednesday night. He didn’t think he did anything wrong drilling Florida catcher Brett Hayes in Tuesday’s game. But he was willing to take his medicine. The Marlins chose not to throw at him early in the game. Instead, Florida starter Chris Volstad drilled two other Nats players – Wil Nieves and Alberto Gonzalez.
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They finally got Morgan while up 14-3 in the fourth inning, which seems a little suspect. Why wait until the game is out of reach? Whatever. But when Morgan got angry – there’s been a lot of that the last two weeks – and stole two bases the Marlins retaliated again. Volstad threw behind him in his sixth-inning at-bat and Morgan charged the mound and started swinging. Gaby Sanchez stopped him cold, of course. But I just don’t understand the notion that a team down 11 runs in the fourth inning needs to stop running. If Morgan had spiked someone or been involved in another questionable play then fine. He didn’t He stole two bases and because of that scored a run – in a game Florida found itself only up five in the seventh inning. The Marlins blew that lead in the eighth inning on Sunday at Atlanta. These “code-of-the-game” issues are so arbitrary sometimes.
Not that Morgan looked great screaming at Florida fans and thumping his chest as he left the field. I believe Washington drilled Reds second baseman Brandon Phillips for a similar over-the-top reaction after he drilled catcher Wil Nieves in a game at Nationals Park in early June. In this situation I lean towards manager Jim Riggleman’s sentiments.
“My feeling has always been if you hit somebody then you did what you set out to do. You hit him and now if he decides to run on you that’s his business. I’ve got no problem with that. We decide when we run. The Florida Marlins will not decide when we run. We will decide when we run. Nobody will decide when we run. I don’t put restrictions on when somebody else can run. That’s not in my control. But nobody’s going to put the controls on me as to when our club runs.”
Anyway, the brawl completely overshadowed the other news from tonight’s game. Scott Olsen wasn’t right from the beginning. Don’t know if he’s hurt again or what, but with two pitchers – Ross Detwiler and Yunesky Maya – looking for starts this September someone has to go. And right now Olsen is the one not carrying his weight while John Lannan and Jason Marquis have pitched better lately. Olsen gave up nine earned runs in 1 2/3 innings as Florida pummeled one pitch after another. Maya pitched tonight in Syracuse and allowed just one run in 5 2/3 innings so he appears ready to take Olsen’s rotation spot, if necessary.
Reliever Craig Stammen took one for the team, too, allowing six earned runs in 3 1/3 innings. Meanwhile, Ian Desmond continued his torrid pace with a 3-for-4 night, including two doubles and two RBI. Michael Morse was good again, too, at 2-for-5 with an RBI. Danny Espinosa made his big-league debut and hit a bizarre double that skimmed over the head of second baseman Emilio Bonifacio for his first major-league hit. Adam Dunn and Justin Maxwell also doubled. In fact, Maxwell hit two. Nieves was 2-for-4 with his third home run of the season. So the offense did it’s job. But Washington (57-77) never really had a chance after the third inning even if it did trim that Florida lead to five runs in the seventh inning. The Marlins (67-65) took two-of-three in the series, winning the final two game. After a day off, the Nats head to Pittsburgh for a weekend series at PNC Park starting on Friday.
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