Nats left frustrated by 10-inning loss, on multiple levels

MIAMI - They could have made it all moot had they simply scored at any point during the first eight innings of tonight's game, or added the go-ahead run in the top of the ninth after tying things up with an impressive rally, despite that runner standing only 90 feet away with one out.

But the Nationals did none of that, and so they left themselves in a position where an odd - and ultimately controversial - bottom of the 10th proved the difference between a potentially uplifting win and yet another agonizing loss.

The final count was 2-1 in favor of the Marlins, who scored the winning run via the following sequence of events: Bunt single, catcher's obstruction on another bunt, a bloop single and another bloop single over a five-man infield.

"They battled," manager Davey Martinez said. "We came back and tied the game. We just couldn't finish it."

The top-of-the-ninth rally included a groundball single through the right side of the infield by Daniel Murphy to bring home the tying run, but the subsequent stranding of the go-ahead run at third base after a shallow fly ball from Mark Reynolds and a sharp groundout to third from Michael A. Taylor, who was stymied by a diving Miguel Rojas.

That ultimately sent the game into extra innings, at which point Rojas figured prominently in the most controversial moment of the contest.

Martinez summoned Kelvin Herrera out of the bullpen to pitch the bottom of the 10th, deciding to use his closer in a tie game on the road, given the stakes at this juncture of the season. Herrera would take the loss, though he never gave up a well-struck ball.

The rally began with Magneuris Sierra's bunt single, a play Herrera couldn't make in time. Moments later, Rojas also bunted, this time attempting to sacrifice Sierra into scoring position. The ball rolled out in front of the plate, onto the grass and slightly toward the first base side, with Herrera and Spencer Kieboom both attempting to retrieve it.

Ultimately, it was Kieboom who got to the ball first, but to do so he had to cross in front of Rojas, making minor contact with the batter-runner in the process. Kieboom (who entered the game after starter Matt Wieters was pinch-hit for in the top of the eighth) made the simple throw to first, thinking he retired Rojas, but plate umpire Tim Timmons immediately ruled obstruction on the rookie catcher and awarded first base to Rojas.

"I had obstruction, because the ball was not in the immediate area of the plate," Timmons told a pool reporter. "The runner was obstructed. It wasn't clear whether Herrera was going to field the ball, or the catcher. The catcher can field the ball, but he can't obstruct the runner and clear the runner out of the way."

Martinez came out of the dugout to question the call, but the discussion didn't last long. The Nationals manager insisted obstruction should not have been called on that play because Rojas had no chance to be safe in the first place.

Timmons disagreed. Martinez said he asked Timmons to consult with the rest of his crew. Timmons declined.

"He said it was obstruction. And clearly the rule states that it's not obstruction," Martinez said. "If he deemed he was able to be safe, yeah we have an argument. But there was no way he was going to be safe. No way. The fact of the matter that he said he knew the rules and was clear about knowing the rules after I asked him to reconvene with Angel (Hernandez) and those guys, and he said no. Then you know what? He screwed up. Plain and simple.

"I'm not going to sit here and argue about it, but that's not what the rule states. If anything, the defensive team has the right of way to go field the ball. He just went on Rojas' finger-pointing that he obstructed him to run. I don't even think he really was going to run. That was just a bad call, period."

The rule book doesn't appear to have a clear answer for that specific type of play. A comment on Rule 6.01(a)(10) - which details the process for calling a batter-runner out for interference, does state: "When a catcher and batter-runner going to first base have contact when the catcher is fielding the ball, there is generally no violation and nothing should be called. 'Obstruction' by a fielder attempting to field a ball should be called only in very flagrant and violent cases because the rules give him the right of way."

Asked if the batter has the right of way at all times, Timmons (who conducted his interview with the pool reporter simultaneously to Martinez's postgame press conference) said: "No. If the ball is immediately in the vicinity of home plate right in front, there can be contact there. When the ball is further out and you don't know who is going to field the ball, it comes into play whether the runner is obstructed."

Asked why he didn't argue more vehemently on the field in the moment, Martinez suggested there was no benefit at that point.

"When he tells me he's done arguing, what do you want me to do?" the manager said. "I'm not going to sit there ... we're trying to win the game, I'm trying to stay in the game. But clearly, I know the rules. And that wasn't it. When I came back in and I saw it on replay, I understand now that he had no chance of making it to first. Zero chance to make it to first base."

Kieboom had already left the visitors' clubhouse before reporters emerged from Martinez's press conference. Herrera defended his rookie batterymate for his handling of the play.

"I think he did his job," Herrera said. "Tried to get the ball as quick as he can. And I don't know what was going on there. I think he was doing his job."

The end result of all this: The Marlins had two runners on with nobody out in the 10th. And when Brian Anderson followed with a bloop single to right field, the bases were now loaded, leaving the Nats in the worst possible bind.

For the second time on this road trip, Martinez decided to use a five-man infield in a desperate moment in extra innings. And for the second time, it didn't work. With Bryce Harper moving to first base for the first time in his career, J.T. Realmuto sent a soft fly ball down the right field line. Harper and Michael A. Taylor (playing right-center at that point) tried to run it down in vain, but the ball landed just inside the foul line in medium-deep right field.

Sierra scored and the Marlins celebrated only their second victory in their last 18 games against the Nationals, who missed an opportunity to gain a game on both the Phillies and Braves, who each lost tonight.

The postscript to it all? Realmuto provided the game-winning hit against a Nats club that has been linked to the All-Star catcher since last winter, a Nats club that is currently deciding whether to make a bold move before Tuesday's trade deadline.

And so asked if it was a helpless feeling watching Realmuto's blooper fall safely into no-man's land, costing the Nationals an important game, Harper's response was loaded with extra meaning.

"Yeah," the star outfielder said. "If that guy was on our side, it wouldn't have happened. So, tough luck."