Helmet-tossing Harper given boot in Nats’ extra-inning loss
Bryce Harper yelled at umpire Mike Winters and threw his helmet to the ground, leading to his ejection from the Washington Nationals’ 9-4 loss to the Colorado Rockies Saturday.
Harper erupted after a called third strike from Winters in the 10th inning. Harper insisted a 95-m.p.h. fastball from Jake McGee (1-3) was beyond the outside corner.
“It was off the plate,” Harper said. “I could possibly see one more pitch and maybe hit a homer or a double or walk — I could even strike out. But I just wanted to see that last pitch and I never got there.
“It just shouldn’t happen. Just bad behind there. It’s not a strike.”
Harper immediately turned and screamed at Winters and the plate umpire calmly ejected him. Harper was replaced by Chris Heisey and the Nationals lost in 11 innings after the Rockies scored five runs off Yusmeiro Petit (3-4).
Manager Dusty Baker said Harper’s frustration mounted over time and he wasn’t just frustrated with Winters.
“Everybody blows up from time to time,” Baker said. “These things happen this time of year when tempers are short. It’s hot, you’ve played a lot of games, you’ve been around the same people for a long period of time and this is the time of the year when tempers do flare up.”
Before Harper got tossed, the Nationals were on the wrong side of an intentional-walk wild pitch. Starter A.J. Cole threw the ball away while trying to walk Daniel Descalso in the fourth, which allowed Nolan Arenado to score.
“I haven’t seen an intentional walk go awry in a long time,” Baker said. “They were just going to say, ‘Take your base’ intentionally, but that’s a reason you know for it not to.”
Cole allowed three runs on four hits in 5 ⅔ innings. Recently acquired reliever Marc Rzepczynski allowed one run.