Game 44 proves that you never know what you are going to see at a Nationals baseball game. The Washington Nationals came from behind to pull out a 7-6 win over the Baltimore Orioles in the second game of the "Battle of the Beltway."
Here are a few photographs to illustrate Adam Jones' inside-the-park home run in the fourth inning......
The Orioles' Center fielder Adam Jones hit a fly ball to deep center that had Morgan waiting for the ball in the warning track.
Morgan jumped up to catch the ball.
The photos show that the ball may have entered, or at least tipped his glove.
However, the ball bounced out of glove and backward toward the wall as Morgan crashed into the wall.
The ball appears to be falling to the ground behind Morgan as he crashed into the wall.
The ball looks like it fell to the field with his hat, but by Morgan's gestures here, it looks like Nyjer thought that the ball went over the fence and was a home run.
Morgan's reactions surprised the 30,290 in the crowd. He raised his mitt and then slammed it on the field in disgust. It might have been the loudest boos ever heard at Nats Park. Almost equivalent to a Red Sox homer at Yankee Stadium. Nats fans are patient and loyal, however, don't quit on them. That is the appearance Morgan gave the fans.
"My first instinct was to take him out of the ballgame," Riggleman said during the post-game press conference. "And then I realized, you know what, he thinks the ball went over the fence. He thought that he knocked it over the fence and it was a home run, so he was showing frustration."
Josh Willingham ran to the ball from left field, picked it up and threw it to home, but not before Jones had crossed the plate. Jones' inside-the-park home run is the second one at Nats Park in the short homestand.
"He made a terrible mistake but it wasn't malicious," Riggleman said of Morgan. "It wasn't directed at anything other than that he was mad he didn't catch the ball and he thought he knocked it over the fence."
Riggleman defended the decision to not bench Morgan after the incident, saying he didn't think it's something Morgan would have done if he knew the ball was still in play.
"It was an isolated incident," he said. "If there were incidences where he had done some things that had irritated me but then he did that, I still would say 'I think he thought the ball went over the fence.' And that's what he said when he came in. I didn't ask him 'did you think it went over the fence,' he said 'I thought the ball went over the fence."
Looks like Nyjer watched the reply on the jumboscreen.
The decision to keep Morgan in the game came down to who was already on the bench. Catcher Ivan ("Pudge") Rodriguez had just left the game with a lower back strain. "For the ball club, I need every player I've got," he said. "I felt I could make a show for myself and take him out but because it wasn't an issue of hustle and we didn't have many players on the roster, I just felt that I'm going to leave him in there and deal with it another way."
All Photos 2010 © Cheryl Nichols Photography/Nationals News Network.
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Bizzare Day Ends With a Win By the Nats
by Anthony Amobi, Staff Writer
WASHINGTON -- Sometimes in life, you can get caught in the heat of the moment in a situation and it gets the best of you.
Well, on Saturday, fans saw that come true on a baseball field in a major league game.
The Washington Nationals defeated the Baltimore Orioles, 7-6, in the second of a three-game in the annual Battle of the Beltways on the banks of the Anacostia; however, the game will be remembered for a bizarre moment in the fourth inning.
With a runner on base and the score tied at two, Baltimores Adam Jones hit a deep flyball to center. It seemed Washington center-fielder Nyjer Morgan was going to make an impressive leaping catch to rob him of a hit; however, all would go terribly wrong.
Morgan did not catch the ball and thinking it might have snuck over the wall, out of frustration or unaware of the circumstances, he inexplicably slammed his glove on the grass and paced in anger.
Unfortunately, the ball remained in the park and was still in Morgan's vicinity, unbeknownst to the Nationals' cetner fielder. Josh Willingham, who was in left filed, quickly snared the ball and threw it in, but by the time it reached home plate, Jones had an inside-the-park homer and his second long ball of the series.
Baltimore took a 4-2 lead off the errant play and once the frame ended, Morgan was booed lustfully by those in attendance and during his subsequent plate appearances.
In a day that saw Ivan Rodriguez leave due to injury and their first base coach Dan Radison ejected due to arguing over an alleged balk by Baltimore's Brad Bergesen early in the game, fans wondered what else could go wrong.
Well, for those fans who remained until the end, they got deluged with rain.
But they also saw a comeback by a resilient Nationals team.
Despite Morgan's gaffe, Washington--who trailed 6-3--rallied back in the bottom of the sixth inning for the victory as they plated four runs. Roger Bernadina tripled in a run, Alberto Gonzlez (pinch-hitter) had an RBI-single and Adam Dunn's two-run single decided the game.
In the end, Tyler Walker (1-0) earned his first win on the season for Washington and Matt Capps notched his 16th save of the season out of 16 chances.
The Nats now find themselves back at .500 at 22-22.
Meanwhile, Mark Hendrickson (1-2) took the loss for Baltimore in relief and pitched the final three innings of the game.
Craig Stammen, who started the game for the Nationals, was shaky in his outing as he went 5 1/3 innings and allowed six runs four earned on nine hits. He found himself in trouble during the opening inning as Ty Wigginton gave Baltimore a quick 2-0 lead with a two-run single.
The Nationals tied the game in the third inning as Josh Willingham hit a two-run homer, his 7th of the year.
Wigginton added a two-run homer (his 13th) in the sixth inning to give the Orioles a 6-3 lead in the sixth inning. He would have four RBIs on the afternoon.
Brad Bergesen for the Orioles went five innings on the mound and allowed six runs on eleven hits.
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