Since resuming play after the All-Star break, the Washington Nationals have more or less been scorching. Entering their recent three-game series against the Philadelphia Phillies, the Nats were 27-12 since July 13, a record that allowed them to skyrocket to the best record in the bigs.
Then this weekend happened.
Philadelphia swept Washington as the former held the latter to just five runs in three games. As a result, the Nats have lost four straight -- they dropped the series finale against the Atlanta Braves last week -- for the first time in over two months (June 15-19).
In their defense, the Nationals could have had more than those five runs and they thought they did in the bottom of the seventh inning Sunday, but fate -- and a fence -- stood in the way.
With Jayson Werth on second base, Adam LaRoche crushed a Cliff Lee offering to deep right field that looked like a two-run home run. Second-base umpire Phil Cuzzi, however, ruled that the ball never left the park, instead bouncing off a fence on top of the wall. That message apparently did not get to either Werth or LaRoche. Here, just watch this.
I guess you could say things quickly derailed. It was just that kind of weekend.
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Werth eventually came home when Tyler Moore hit a RBI double after LaRoche was tagged out, but that's still tough to watch. Brings you back to Nationals teams of old, huh? Just when you thought you had repressed those memories...
Anyways, never fear. Despite losing four in a row, the Nats are still the best team in baseball with a 77-50 record, but let this be a reminder that we are all human. We make mistakes.
Though, admittedly, they aren't all as funny-in-a-sad-way as this.
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