Second Look Doesn’t Help As Nationals Fall to Mets – The Post
But this latest loss — a 7-4 defeat against the Mets at Citi Field — played out like a bad sequel for reasons beyond that. By now, 33 losses into their season, the Nationals have proved themselves capable of replicating not just the results, but the sinister details. Same as Monday, a controversial game-changing home run was subjected to umpire review. Same as Monday, the Nationals were responsible for allowing, not hitting, said home run. Same as Monday, the Nationals didn’t like the call.
And, same as Monday, the Nationals didn’t have the wherewithal to overcome it. Their third loss in a row dropped them 20 games under .500. Even if they play .500 ball the rest of the way, they’ll finish with a 71-91 record.
Instant replay dooms Nats again – The Wash. Times
The situation: With no outs and a man on first, Murphy tagged a pitch from Nationals starter Jordan Zimmermann deep to right. Adam Dunn took a couple steps backward but then turned around to watch the ball, which surely was headed into the stands.
But the ball somehow landed on the warning track and was ruled in play, forcing players from both sides to scurry back into action. Dunn retrieved the ball and managed to fire a throw to cutoff man Ronnie Belliard, who fired to the plate in time to nail Sheffield.
Umpire Larry Vanover and his crew, however, immediately huddled up and decided to review the play. The ensuing five-minute delay left the crowd of 40,171 nervously waiting and trying to get a glimpse of replays that appeared to show the ball glancing off an advertisement hanging some 30 feet above the right-field fence.
When Vanover emerged from underneath the stadium and singled home run, the crowd roared and the Nationals hung their heads, aghast that another borderline call went against them.
Things spiraled downward from there, with relievers Kip Wells and Jesus Colome combining to allow two more runs to score and give the Mets plenty of cushion to secure a series sweep and hand Washington its 15th loss in 18 days.
Another night, another video review call of a home run that goes against Washington. It is too bad too, the Nats tagged Johan Santana for three runs. For Washington, Jordan Zimmermann had eight strike outs over five innings, but gave up five earned runs, including that bad replay call.
Simply put, the Nats are not getting the breaks and they are not going to anytime soon.
Montz is happy to receive promotion – The Wash. Times
C Luke Montz, he of the .152 average in AA-Harrisburg is with the team now. C Jesus Flores should be back this weekend. Reliever Mike MacDougal, a former All-Star was promoted from AAA-Syracuse as well. His ERA is lower than Montz’s batting average.
