Ruiz, Harper sit day after benches-clearing incident

Neither Keibert Ruiz nor Bryce Harper is in their respective teams’ lineups for today’s season finale, so it doesn’t look like there will be any residual effects of Saturday’s incident between the two, one that prompted both the Nationals and Phillies’ benches and bullpens to empty.

Ruiz figured to be off all along, with Drew Millas getting the start behind the plate after Ruiz caught the previous three games. And with the Phillies no longer having a shot at home-field advantage in the playoffs, manager Rob Thomson decided to give Harper a breather and let him prepare for the National League Division Series later this week.

Saturday’s eighth-inning situation, though, still resonated the following day, an unexpected display of emotion from a couple of prominent players, one of them of course a former Nationals star.

Jose A. Ferrer had just surrendered a game-tying homer to Trea Turner when Harper stepped to the plate in what was now a 2-2 game. Ferrer’s second pitch of that at-bat was a 98 mph sinker right on the outer edge of the zone, and Ruiz held his mitt there for an extra second hoping to get the strike call from plate umpire Nic Lentz. (He didn’t get the call.)

Harper immediately said something to Ruiz, who later told reporters the Philly slugger appeared to be bothered by his attempt to frame the pitch.

“He tried to talk to me like: ‘Hey, throw the ball back! You’ve been trying to move the ball!’” Ruiz said. “I didn’t see that good. I mean, he’s got to do his job. I’ve got to do my job. He doesn’t have to talk to me like that.”

Everything seemed fine until Ferrer got Harper to strike out on a down-and-away slider, the ninth pitch of the at-bat and the final pitch of the inning. As he walked off the mound, Ferrer looked at Harper, who glared back at the young lefty and yelled at him: “What the (expletive) are you looking at?”

That prompted both benches and bullpens to empty, and though nobody ever came close to throwing a punch or inciting an actual brawl, the moment added some spice to the game and fired up the sellout crowd of 38,135.

It was the second time Ruiz has found himself jawing at an opposing hitter this season, bringing up memories of a June series in San Diego when he got upset at Jurickson Profar for the way the latter seemed to taunt the Nationals dugout after his game-winning hit the previous night.

Ruiz was asked if he views himself as a growing leader with the team, one who is looked upon to handle such situations on behalf of his teammates.

“I just feel like I don’t care who you are,” he said. “I know he’s a really good player. He can be a Hall of Famer. But if you don’t respect me, I won’t respect you.”

Ruiz did get the last laugh Saturday. After James Wood led off the bottom of the eighth with a triple, Ruiz delivered the go-ahead single to center that proved to be the game-winning RBI in the Nationals’ 6-3 victory.