Benches warned after Garcia close call, but Nats understand it wasn't personal

Left-hander Jaime Garcia went seven innings for the Cardinals in their 6-2 victory over the Nationals. He allowed only two runs, but he wasn't close to having his best command.

That led to a few pitches that hit or came close to Nationals hitters.

Daniel Murphy was hit by a pitch to lead off the fourth inning.

Then in the fifth, Garcia came close to hitting Ben Revere.

Home plate umpire Alan Porter then warned Garcia and both benches, even though Nationals starter Max Scherzer had not been wild with his pitches.

Nationals manager Dusty Baker was a bit surprised both benches were warned, but he understands the protocol.

"Yeah, I was surprised," Baker said. "I don't know what happens on a warning anymore. If you come close to a guy, I guess it's a warning. I'm sure (Cardinals manager) Mike Matheny was probably just as surprised. You could tell that (Garcia) wasn't sharp.

"In my mind, I know he wasn't trying to hit those guys. There's no reason to. I don't know if there's bad blood in the past, I wasn't there. I didn't see anything that merited him coming close to our guys or even getting a warning."

Matheny came out to speak with Porter on the play and why both benches were warned.

"That's the routine," Matheny said of his talk with Porter. "Make sure also that he's understanding that you do what you have to do, and I appreciate the umpires are trying to stay on top of things.

"But also keep a baseball savvy eye on intent and don't be throwing a guy out, ball just kind of sails, just have an idea of what's going on in the game. He knew there was no intent or reason for throwing up and in there. But we're just trying to keep people safe, I get it."

Garcia also walked four batters and also uncorked a wild pitch. He talked about the hit-by-pitch to Murphy but said there was no intent to injure.

"It got away from me, I hit him," Garcia said. "The other one got away as well. It's hot, it's humid. My intentions are never to get it anywhere close to the head. I've never done that. I'd never do that.

"At the same time, it's not acceptable. I've been on the other side as well, to where a guy let's it go and it's close to a head a couple of times. They didn't like it, which I understand. I apologized for the fact. But at the same time, you move on, try to execute pitches."

Revere was almost hit a couple of times during Garcia's outing. But he did not take it personally.

"I've faced Garcia a couple of times," Revere said. "I know how humid it is tonight and with the way the ball moves. He was trying to come inside and it kind of got away from him. I didn't think anything of it, that he was trying to purposefully throw at somebody."

Revere said Anthony Rendon relayed a message from Garcia about the close call.

"If a pitcher is really trying to do that, then it's time to get serious," Revere said. "Like Rendon was telling me, his hands were sweaty. He wasn't trying to throw at my head."

Revere did appreciate that Porter warned all parties after the near hit-by-pitch.

"That was good because you don't want retaliation where something breaks out that shouldn't," Revere said. "You don't want to get somebody potentially hit in the head. I've been hit in the face and it's not fun. It's definitely not fun. I don't think he was doing it on purpose. It's one of those days that was really humid. I'm just glad nobody really got hurt, especially Murphy."

Matheny said Garcia is not that type of pitcher.

"Obviously, he wasn't trying to hit anybody, but those are two pitches that soared in the wrong area," Matheny said. "So I get it. But he's just got to keep pitching and that's kind of what the message is."

Baker said Garcia was certainly aided by the early runs. There was no reason for him to go head hunting with a 5-1 lead.

"It helped to get five runs because when you got a guy who pitches on command and changes speeds, those five runs helped out a lot, and the double plays," Baker said. "We had him on the ropes a couple of times. I've seen him many, many times. He wasn't that sharp today. Again, his defense and the double plays helped save him."