Diamondbacks 2, Nationals 0
Not your usual summer night at the ballpark on Tuesday. That whole 5.8 magnitude earthquake got the day off to an odd start. The Arizona Diamondbacks then found out how D.C. rolls during an emergency – we shut ‘er down and bang our heads against our steering wheels while sitting in soul-crushing traffic. Then there was the whole delayed start while the Nationals made sure their home park was safe to watch a game. And the winning hit came from a player who hadn’t homered in the big leagues since April 30, 2005. Check out the pertinent details in our game story here.
A couple of big names left early. Justin Upton, who was hit four times during that beanball war that erupted between the two teams in Arizona in early June, was drilled in the left elbow by a Jordan Zimmermann pitch in the fourth inning. He slammed his bat to the ground in disgust and glared at the mound – though there was no move to charge. Upton played right field in the bottom of the fourth, but was replaced by Collin Cowgill in the fifth. Later, the Diamondbacks hit Nats first baseman Michael Morse on the same inflamed elbow he’s been nursing since getting drilled there in the Cubs series two weeks ago.
“I was a little upset about it,” Upton told reporters afterwards. “I don’t know if you’re trying to hit me or not, but control your pitches.”
Both dugouts were warned. But Johnson insisted neither pitcher was purposely throwing at anyone. Upton covers the outside corner as well as anyone – Johnson said he dives out there – and a pitcher can’t live in that spot or he’ll get hurt. Same with with Morse and some of Washington’s best hitters. Plus, both pitchers put themselves in the same precarious situation – first and second, none out.
“I thought Upton reacted rather poorly,” Johnson said. “Obviously, we don’t want to put a guy on second base in a scoreless game. And obviously, Kennedy didn’t want to hit Morse. He’s trying to throw the ball inside. It’s not retaliation. He’s just trying to pitch him in. So I think Upton overreacted to that one.”
Meanwhile, Jayson Werth was replaced in right field in the top of the ninth as he struggled with what he described as a mild hip flexor strain. The Nats’ public relations staff called it a groin injury. Davey Johnson had said it was a tweaked hip. Don’t think there’s much difference there. It’s all the same general area. Werth hoped it was just a muscle spasm that it would settle down overnight, but conceded Johnson may see fit to give him a day off to rest. Werth has had his share of bumps and bruises this season, including an ankle injury that kept him out of the lineup for a few days in early June, but not this particular injury. He has had groin issues in the past, however.
In the fifth inning, Morse appeared to get hit again in the hand, but home-plate umpire Marvin Hudson said it got the knob of the bat. Johnson wanted him to ask for help from the rest of the crew, but to no avail. He saw no difference anyway if the hand is over the knob of the bat. Both were hit. But the call stayed and Morse promptly struck out swinging to strand runners at first and second with the game still scoreless. It was that kind of night. The Nats got the leadoff man on in five different innings and couldn’t convert.
“We had a couple of chances to jump out ahead and we had the right guys up,” Johnson said. “We just didn’t get it done. So you got to tip your hat to the pitcher.”
Oh, and that home run? It was hit by Sean Burroughs, who hadn’t homered since April 30, 2005. According to Elias, the last player to go through a longer drought than Burroughs was Erick Almonte. He ended a homerless drought of exactly eight years on April 2, 2011.
Hat tip to colleague Phil Wood for pointing this out: Burroughs hit a two-run homer in the seventh inning for the only runs in a 2-0 Arizona victory over the Nats. Almost exactly 30 years earlier, Aug. 14, 1971, his dad, Jeff, also hit a two-run homer in the seventh inning of a 2-0 victory. That game also took place in the District – at RFK Stadium – but Jeff played for the Senators, who beat the California Angels that night. I have no idea what that means, but it sounded cool so there you go.
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