(Brandon Phillips collides with Wil Nieves in the eighth. Nieves dropped the ball. The Nationals didn't appreciate Phillips' chest-thumping celebration after the play, so they drilled him with a pitch in the ninth.AP Photo.)
"I didn't have a problem when he ran me over. What he did after is what I didn't like. He looked like he scored a touchdown or something. Hitting me is part of the game, it's going to happen. I'm a catcher. When Phillips got hit, we didn't throw it at his head. He got hit in the [elbow]. I think everybody in the ballpark knew that was going to happen, so he got hit. I thought he got hit where he was supposed to, not in the head. Obviously, we don't play like that. We hit him in a good spot."
(Wil Nieves, via Nationals.com, 6/6/2010)
Ejections, Collisions, and Revenge
Reds 5, Nationals 1: Atilano good, Leake better.
Dusty Baker had no problem with Batista hitting Phillipsin the 9th for his chest-pounding antics; Cincinnati Enquirer says there will be no further retailiation today:
"That’s exactly what it was. In the old days, you would have gotten drilled."
(Dusty Baker, via Cincinnati Enquirer, 6/6/2010)
Same goes for Phillips:
"Trust me it just helps my on-base percentage. That’s how I look at it. They did their job and I did mine. Lesson learned."
(Brandon Phillips, via Cincinnati Enquirer, 6/6/2010)
Meanwhile...
Craig Stammen pitching for his job today in series finale vs. Reds.
Pudge maybe to catch Strasburg's debut on Tuesday, depending on how things go Monday with Potomac.
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