Nationals insist there won't be retaliation vs. Giants

SAN FRANCISCO - Neither the Nationals nor the Giants were totally satisfied with the punishments handed down by Major League Baseball today for Bryce Harper and Hunter Strickland. The Nats felt Harper deserved a suspension fewer than four games, Strickland a suspension more than six games. The Giants felt the opposite way.

On one point, though, both sides appear to agree: The matter is closed, and there's no reason for any carryover tonight or in the future.

"I don't think retaliation is the key in this situation," Nationals manager Dusty Baker said. "I know Bruce Bochy didn't give the command or order. I could tell the way Buster Posey reacted that he had nothing to do with it. In my mind, it was more of a selfish, not a team act, but a selfish act on his part. ... It's more selfish, because he'll probably never come to the plate for there to be any retaliation. So the best thing for us to do is beat up on them and win tonight."

The key takeaway from Monday's plunking and benches-clearing brawl was this: Strickland acted alone when he purposely hit Harper in the right hip with a 98 mph fastball, still holding a grudge for Harper's two homers (and reactions rounding the bases) in the 2014 National League Division Series.

Ergo, there's no reason for the Nationals to take out their frustrations on anybody else wearing a Giants uniform, most of whom did very little Monday or today to stand up for their pitcher.

"I think going out to the mound, I think it kind of put it all in a boot, I guess," Harper said. "Nothing's really going to happen. It's part of the process going out there and playing the game. Hopefully both sides just go about it and play the game and not really worry about things that happened in the past."

Both Harper and Strickland have appealed their suspensions and are eligible to play until their hearings take place.

Harper said the reason he is appealing is a simple one.

"I never want to miss playing baseball," he said. "But it's what they do. We'll figure it out."

Strickland's reaction to his punishment?

"I didn't know what to expect, really, but obviously it's a little much," the reliever told reporters. "We're trying to get that down. After that's settled, I'll take the consequences."

Baker and Bochy, who tonight are managing against each other for the 187th time, chatted behind the cage during batting practice this evening, perhaps further evidence that the two sides want to make sure there are no more extracurricular activities. It's unclear whether MLB officials or the umpiring crew are issuing warnings to both teams before the game.

"We can all speculate," Bochy told reporters. "This is why we don't have our pitchers throw at guys or start things. This was a personal thing."

Harper hasn't had any contact with Strickland since Monday's incident. Nor did the two ever speak in the 2 1/2 years since the 2014 NLDS.

"It's just crazy that it even happened yesterday," Harper said. "After three years, to do that, I don't know what was going through his mind or how upset he was the last couple years. If he did have a problem, he could've talked to me in BP about it and say: 'I didn't like the way you went about it.' But that's not human nature, I guess. I don't know, it's just part of the game, I guess. It's just a crazy situation. I can't believe it happened."

And so all the affected parties will proceed, even if nobody feels satisfied with the resolution.

"No. The whole act wasn't fair," Baker said. "But it doesn't matter what I say or what I do. I just don't think that the judges, whoever the judges were, have ever been in the situation. Probably only Martin Luther King or Gandhi would have turned the other cheek and not done something reactionary."