“It was no problem with me when he run me over,” Nieves said. “It’s part of the game. What he did after is what I didn’t like. It looked like he scored a touchdown or something the way he celebrated. Just hitting me is part of the game. It’s going to happen. I’m a catcher. It’s cool. So it’s going to happen. But just what he did I don’t think it was professional. I thought it was really unprofessional. That’s the only thing.”

When the inning ended, everyone in the ballpark knew Phillips – due up third in the top of the ninth – was getting hit for his transgression. And – with two men out – he was. Batista was promptly ejected by umpire Joe West and after the game – like a true veteran – absolutely denied hitting Phillips on purpose. He kind of has to do that with Major League Baseball fines looming and all. Thankfully, his teammates don’t have to worry about that.

“Like when we hit…when he got hit,” Nieves said, catching himself before giving up the pretense completely. “We didn’t throw at his head. We hit him in the ribs. I think everybody in the ballpark kind of knew that that was going to happen. So he got hit and I thought he got hit where he was supposed to. Not in the head. Obviously, we don’t play like that. Miguel hit him in a good spot.”

Added Desmond: “That’s just the way you play the game. I think any team in the league probably would have done that same exact thing. We obviously want to look out for our catcher. He’s our leader right now. I don’t think that was anything out of the ordinary. I think they knew – everyone in the ballpark knew that he was going to get hit. The whole thing was handled right. Obviously he made a mistake by fist-pumping or whatever he did. I didn’t even see it. But it’s not that big of a deal. It was handled. Come back tomorrow and win a ballgame.”

Can’t let the issue die, though, without giving Phillips his say: “Nobody said anything to me. I just go out there and play the best I know how. I play with a lot of excitement, I’m just out there playing. I don’t see anything wrong with what I did. If people think I did something wrong, I’ll apologize to anyone that thinks so, but it’s the name of baseball. I’m just going to keep on going out there playing the best way I know how.”

All of that late-inning drama and Leake’s effort overshadowed a nice performance by Nats starter Luis Atilano. And let’s not forget – Atilano is fighting to stay in the rotation when Stephen Strasburg arrives on Tuesday. For now, J.D. Martin could be the odd-man out because he is the one who eventually replaced the injured Scott Olsen (shoulder). But Atilano and Craig Stammen, Sunday’s starter against the Reds, are still on notice. The 25-year-old rookie enjoyed his best start. Atilano pitched a career high seven innings with six strikeouts – also a career best. Atilano allowed just two runs, one of them earned, and posted his second straight quality start and fourth overall. Nats manager Jim Riggleman said before the game that which pitcher gets sent down to Triple-A when Strasburg is called up will not be decided until Tuesday. In reality, the player will be told Monday afternoon during the team’s off day.

Nats Notes

» Washington again left seven runners on base against the Reds, including two each in the first and second innings.

» OF Nyjer Morgan has hit safely in seven straight games. He is batting .344 during that stretch with seven runs scored and three stolen bases.

» Desmond batted 2-for-4 on the night. Ryan Zimmerman was 1-for-3 with a walk, an error and a fine defensive play in the sixth inning.

» The Reds improved to 32-24 with the victory and are one game behind first-place St. Louis (33-23) in the N.L. Central. 

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