Published 6/13/2009
at Nationals Journal
How many more oddball ways can the Nationals lose? Today's scenario was particularly plainful. And it involved some unusual suspects. Nick Johnson (arguably their top fielder) committed a costly eighth-inning error. Ron Villone (inarguable their top reliever) allowed the decisive homer. Just so happened, the error and the run came on back-to-back pitches. With Gape Kapler batting in the eighth, game tied at 3, Kapler popped a 1-1 pitch to into foul territory near first. That's a play Johnson makes 199 out of 200 times. Even with the ball dropping from the Teflon sky at the Trop. Instead, he overran the pop, then drifted back to late. Kapler's AB continued. And so of course, he tagged a Villone pitch one row deep into the left field seats. That ended up as the go-ahead homer in Tampa's 4-3 win. You can read reaction from Johnson and Villone in the gamer I
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ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) -- One pitch after an error prolonged his at-bat, Gabe Kapler hit a pinch-hit home run that snapped an eighth-inning tie and gave the Tampa Bay Rays a 4-3 victory over the Washington Nationals on Friday night.
