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Werth thought Gonzalez didn’t hustle to first base on a double play attempt in the first inning and Gio took exception to being called out for it.
Werth declined to comment after the game, and Gonzalez also saved the details.
“It stays between me and Werth,” Gonzalez said.
Luckily Davey Johnson was there to explain it.
“Oh, just a little camaraderie going on. Jayson sometimes can get a little vocal. He thought that Gio was a little late covering first, and he was,” Johnson said.
With his team showing some life during their fourth consecutive win, however, Johnson saw no issue with the exchange.
“Spirits are high. I like it. It’s no big deal.”
Johnson and Gonzalez both offered up an explanation for why Gio was, in fact, late to covering first.
Buster Posey was up with two outs and hit a groundball to Adam LaRoche who snagged it running to his right towards second. He fired the ball to Ian Desmond who then held it on the turn attempt as he saw no one at first to force the second out. LaRoche was too far from the bag to get back, and Gio was nowhere to be seen.
It turns out Gonzalez may have stepped too far to his right while throwing the pitch. He was favoring a back that had tightened up on a swing last game and came across his body farther than he usually does.
“He falls towards third and with a bad back and falling toward third, he didn’t get over there,” Johnson said.
Gonzalez acknowledged that as a reason, and admitted he misjudged the sequence.
“I guess it was the way I fell off the mound,” he said. “I just, I kind of read it wrong. I didn't think LaRoche was going to make that play, I thought Anthony [Rendon] was. But I didn't cover the bag. It was the way I fell off the mound.”
The discussion appeared heated on the Comcast SportsNet Giants broadcast, and it remains to be seen if it will be an issue moving forward. LaRoche, a veteran and respected locker room presence, doesn’t think it will.
“We just forget about it,” he said. “That's a thing where you've got a year where we've underachieved, been struggling, around each other all day long. Occasionally some tempers are going to flare. Guys are competitive. It's going to happen. They'll both be over it tomorrow and so will we.”
40 comments:
I like that Werth said something. I'd really like it...
"Buster Posey was up with two outs and hit a groundball to Adam LaRoche who snagged it running to his right towards second."
If there were two outs it wouldn't have been an issue....
I would have liked it more if Werth had put more effort into trying to stop Arias from stretching his bloop hit into a double. Glass houses and all that.
I'm more concerned about the lingering effects of Wilson Ramos' hamstring than those of the "argument." .
Didn't see the game as I had a lot going on last night. I tuned in around 8:30 only to see a rain delay (and a rally) beginning. When the game was still delayed a half-hour later, I set the DVR to record until 11 or 11:30 (I forget which). After breakfast this morning, I went downstairs, looked at the recordings, and learned that the Nats had won. Niiiice. Will watch the recordings later today if I have time.
I learned of this tiff on here... Didnt see it at the game, of course..
Gio looked off all night so maybe Jayson shouldnt have said anything.. becuz sometimes I swear some of those balls are catchable that land right in front of him in RF...
And like 222 said that hit by Arias (who was just on fire last night) should have been a single...
But yeah JoeS - Im with you... Hoping Ramos is okay... Nats will have to make a decision about C next year too... I like Zook but I doubt we keep him at his price...
I didn't see it as lack of hustle by Werth on Arias' double. He was playing way towards center and the ball died at the RF wall, rather than bouncing out.He had a tough time getting a handle on a ball and Arias which hustled it in to a double. Werth's K's with the bases loaded and later with 2 on were frustrating however. He made up for some of it with his double in the 8th and scoring on Zook's somewhat shallow sac fly.
"I set the DVR to record until 11 or 11:30 (I forget which)."
***********
SPOILERS
Ummm ... not until 11:43?
Evidently I set it until 12, if the game ended at 11:43. I did have the final out recorded.
Everybody comes with baggage. Werth is fighting recurring groin and hamstring injuries, not to mention we don't know how fragile his wrist might still be. I think the guy has played overall amazingly, all things considered, but he is obviously a little tentative at times in the field. Just one more piece that has been "off" at times on this team.
Werth is fighting recurring groin and hamstring injuries, not to mention we don't know how fragile his wrist might still be.
Agreed JoeS. All the more reason that he should check in with Gio to see how he's feeling before ripping him. He was already yelling at Gio as he was coming off the field.
1a, that's how late mine was set to also. Just enough time to catch Davey's postgame presser. Whew!
Glad we were both able to eke out a win, 222. :-)
Section 222 said...
1a, that's how late mine was set to also. Just enough time to catch Davey's postgame presser. Whew!
August 14, 2013 11:04 AM
Wow, Gio gets called out and away we go....heard it all year how this team lacks heart.....Werth showed heart , end of story, someone should have called some of these guys out ages ago.
Speaking of controversy, what about over-playing Ramos with a tender hammy instead of easing him back. Did the Nats, desperate for offense, sit Suzuki at the cost of Ramos for the season? Same hammy, third time.
JamesFan, that is a solid point on Ramos. At least Suzuki should have been playing 2 or 3 times a week.
I agree Tcostant. Whether it was for Ramos's bat, his game calling abilities, or to assure that Zuki's contract option didn't vest, it seemed like a dangerous move to "ride" Ramos like they did. Let's hope the tweak is minor or our hopes of a .500 finish might be going by the boards.
Ramos had the day off Monday so this wasn't caused by overwork rather a fast sprint which was the same reason Trent shouldn't be sending him on any play he has to put it into high gear.
Hopefully he will be fine and its a cautionary reaction. I didn't see him pull up lame luckily.
Ramos' hamstring could've gotten tweaked again on any given physical maneuver whether he was playing everyday, or 3 games a week. Or not. It just takes one wrong push off, on any given play.
And there's no indication that he's out for the rest of the season, from what has been said. Now, if you read that Solano is headed back here...
I like what Werth did but as a leader he needs to apologize for over reacting. Gio has been through a lot this year and has never complained and you could see on TV he was uncomfortable with his back. I remember Detwiler had the same issue covering 1st earlier this year. It happens.
Ghost, I agree with your 12:02 pm post 100%.
Why are the Nationals playing Ramos so much? He's better, and it's not close. And the Nationals have dug themselves a huge hole in the playoff chase. And they are still chasing those playoffs. Their judgment seems to be that they risk losing more games by definitely playing Suzuki over Ramos more than they do by possibly losing Ramos to a reinjury (which could easily happen regardless; as GOSM notes, they were just back from an off day).
It's not optimal, but neither is being this far back with 44 games to play. So the best of bad options is to ride the buffalo as far as they can.
I feel that it was too bad that it got caught on camera, and re-played. I had heard that the whole thing was first aired by a San Fran feed and then by MASN. There are a lot of things that are said in a dugout and locker room that the public doesn't need to know every detail about.
Byron Kerr has a post up on MASN about Espi building up his average, noting that in his last 10 games, he's batting .308. I'll do him one better. He's hit safely in 10 of his last 13 games, with a slashline of .327/.400/.388. Yeah, not a lot of power, but we'd definitely take a guy with a .788 OPS right? (Rendon's is only .728 this year.)
Problem is, these small sample sizes have been deceiving. His line in the previous 13 games was .118/.196/.118. In the 11 before that, it was .429/.479/.714! In the 13 before that, it was .085/.122/.128.
Consistency, thy name is not, I'm afraid, Danny Espinosa. I guess we'll see him in September, but I'm not expecting much, despite the periodic reports that's he's "figured it out."
From what I saw of the replay, Gonzalez DID NOT fall off the mound to the right; he ended up -- upright -- at the base of the mound at about seven o'clock, which is about where you would expect a LHP to be. I'm sorry his back hurt but he didn't begin to move toward 1B until the ball was virtually in Desmond's hand. Probably wouldn't have made it but I didn't see any effort. Just another case where his head wasn't in the game. He'd have been much better off to not accept the excuse Johnson made up for him.
I saw the replay too, and agree that the problem was not falling too far off the mound. The real issue was his lack of speed to 1B, and that's consistent with him (a) not having his head in the game; (b) having a sore back; or (c) just getting a bad jump and quickly realizing he didn't have chance to beat the runner. I don't know how Werth could tell which it was from out in RF and it was disconcerting to see him barking at Gio already as he ran to the dugout after the third out. Why wouldn't he hold his fire and say to Gio, "Hey man, what was up on that potential DP grounder to ALR?"? Maybe Gio says, "my back's bugging me, and I couldn't get there in time, sorry man," and the whole thing is diffused. Or maybe he says, "F-U. What was up on that blooper that you ran around instead of charging?" In which case, game on.
I liked Davey's and ALR's responses. A little competive criticism is OK in the heat of the battle. Great honesty from Davey and Gio on the matter.
Meanwhile back at the ranch, how's the Buffalo doing???
With a few more days of an awesome vacation left, I thought I would drop in and say hello...been watching the boys on MLB network so I know whats been happening.
I love the fight, even after the Braves disaster. I like Werth's passion but I could have found several other players he could have unleashed his wrath on well before Gio.
Any way, the idea is for the Nats to finish strong with a winning record, if they do not get in that is fine, as long as they are playing well at the end. I have mixed feelings on Scioscia as the next manager from the standpoint that, why has he failed with the Angels the past 2 years?
Stras was awesome the other night. It is probably a good thing I was not around during the Braves series when ALR swung on 2-0 pitch....I would have unleashed in here...Finally, I am glad to see that an old time poster has returned here, ha ha
now back to the beach!!!
I was sitting in Section 129 in the front row which is on the right side of the dugout where the outfielders/infielders enter/exit and saw and heard Jayson yelling and we stood up to see all the pitchers seated on the bench in that row behind the netting that is the front of the dugout turn around and look behind them.
We knew something was going on but couldn't see anything and of course found out well past midnight when we got home on TV the details.
Glad some fire comes out of these sleepwalkers in mid August, you know, because there has not been much reason to date for anyone to get animated about how poorly the club has performed or anything.
I also like that Werth is fighting for every out and run. I'm a total fan. But, like Seamhead, I am worried about Ramos.
Werth calling a guy out for blowing a play while they are still on the field is pretty ridiculous. Say whatever you;ve got to say in the dugout or better the clubhouse hallway, but on the field? He can't do that.
LaRoche had a good quote on it. It's over.
Also, it wouldn't be news if it wasn't caught on camera.
"Say whatever you;ve got to say in the dugout or better the clubhouse hallway, but on the field? He can't do that."
Why not? Maybe Werth thinks he's seen enough of the Clubhouse Clown act. NatsJack said last night concerning (I think) the blown bunt, "No execution again." So what's that, two blown bunts in the last couple of weeks? As Johnson said, "He's always swinging for the fences" -- apparently just because he's happened to run into a couple of fastballs. (I saw a comment somewhere, might have been Boswell -- but maybe not -- that was a habit of the Nats pitchers, to spend batting practice going for the seats.
Fundamentals have been a problem for players at all positions throughout this team's history (the D.C. period). If they can't learn 'em back in ST or in the dugout or in the clubhouse kangaroo court, may be it's time some of them got undressed in public.
Good point Theo. I was able to watch batting practice up close the night we sang the anthem. The starting pitchers (other than the one who is starting that game) take BP just like the rest of the players. All players lay down a few bunts in their first round and then proceed to take hacks for the rest of the time.
Given that with any luck the pitchers will be bunting three times as often as any other player, maybe the should spend a little more time practicing that instead of swinging for the fences. And unless it would mess up the pitching preparation, maybe the starting pitcher of that game should do a round of bunting only so the feeling is fresh.
Pain makes you irritable. Physical pain, I mean, not "mental." Sometimes it's just that simple.
Late to the game as I'd recorded the game and watched it late this afternoon. But, what Theo said.
Theophilus T. S. said...
From what I saw of the replay, Gonzalez DID NOT fall off the mound to the right; he ended up -- upright -- at the base of the mound at about seven o'clock, which is about where you would expect a LHP to be. I'm sorry his back hurt but he didn't begin to move toward 1B until the ball was virtually in Desmond's hand. Probably wouldn't have made it but I didn't see any effort. Just another case where his head wasn't in the game. He'd have been much better off to not accept the excuse Johnson made up for him.
August 14, 2013 12:23 PM
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