Even in victory, Nationals left to fume after chaotic ninth

Even in victory, Nationals left to fume after chaotic ninth
ATLANTA - The Nationals won a ballgame tonight. They probably are going to have a new closer when they wake up in the morning. And, oh by the way, the final out of this game turned into a full-blown fiasco after an egregious mistake that led their veteran leader to go on a postgame tirade that delicately teetered the line between acceptable criticism of umpires and the kind of rant that typically leads to punishment from league officials. Just a run-of-the-mill Tuesday night in suburban...

Harper ejected, even though he shouldn't have been

Harper ejected, even though he shouldn't have been
Bryce Harper crushed two home runs tonight and the Nationals pulled out a big 8-4 win over the Marlins to snap a losing skid. Unfortunately, I fear that the one play tonight which will generate much of the national attention was Harper getting ejected in the top of the ninth inning. Harper grounded into a double play with no outs in the ninth, and the play at first was a close one. Harper was ruled out by first base umpire C.B. Bucknor, and as soon as he saw the call, Harper spiked his helmet...