Rick Eckstein's Pants Catch on Fire in Nationals' Dugout

If you need any more proof that the Nationals are on fire through two games, then look no further than hitting coach Rick Eckstein's pants.

The temperature at first pitch during Wednesday's game was a crisp 45 degrees, so there was a portable heater in the dugout tunnel. Eckstein stood a little too close to it.

Allow Davey Johnson to explain:

"He went down there and started talking to one of the hitters that was sitting close to the fire, and he was standing close to the fire. It just fried, I mean, his pant leg's all burned out. That was a severe hot foot there. But anyway, a lot going on in that dugout."

The Nationals, like Eckstein's pant leg, are burning up. They shut out the Miami Marlins again Wednesday in a 3-0 victory. Gio Gonzalez threw six scoreless innings and helped his own cause with his second career home run, just the third pitcher in Nationals/Expos history to throw at least six scoreless and hit a homer in the same game.

Washington became just the 13th team since 1900 to open a season with two straight shutout victories, and the first since the 2002 Arizona Diamondbacks. It was also the first time in the Marlins' 21-year history that they have been shut out in their first two games.


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