Ian Desmond on curtain call in ninth inning Sunday: "That was pretty special"

Shortstop Ian Desmond went 3-for-3 and slammed his 19th homer of the season in what may very well have been his final home start for the Nationals in their 12-5 loss to the Phillies.

Desmond scored twice and has now hit safely in five of his last six games. He received a nice ovation from the 28,661 fans at Nats Park after he was replaced by shortstop Trea Turner in the ninth inning.

"That was pretty special," Desmond said. "Bittersweet. Spent a lot of time here and have a lot of special memories. Certainly that will be amongst the better ones.

"I've always kind of worn my emotions on my sleeve, so whatever would've happened, would've happened," he continued. "It was special. I thank the organization and the fans for supporting me and investing their emotion in me over the last 12 years."

Desmond has played in 151 games for the Nationals this season. The team has fought through a ton of injuries this season, but rarely has Desmond ever taken a day off. In his career with the Nationals to date, he has played in 922 games.

Desmond said the reaction from fans over the years was special to him because it was just that: a reaction, an emotional connection.

"I think whether you cheered for me, loved me, hated me, booed me, whatever," Desmond explained. "To invest emotion in somebody, not everyone gets that. There's been, over history, plenty of irrelevant players that didn't get any emotion from fans. So positive or negative, whatever you decided to invest in me, I appreciate it and I respect it. I went out there every day and grinded it out."

As for Sunday's loss to the Phillies and his three base hits, he said it doesn't mean as much now that they can't advance to the second season.

"Would've liked to not lose by (seven)," Desmond said. "At this point, I'm not much into numbers or hits or anything like that. We're out of it. The rest of this stuff is kind of irrelevant."

Desmond said he has heard from a lot of fans about what may be his last few games with the Nationals and he appreciates those kind thoughts.

"Too many to remember," Desmond said of what fans have said to him this season. "Obviously, they are all special and I appreciate them all. Just a lot of 'thank you's.'"

Manager Matt Williams fielded a lot of questions regarding the incident between Jonathan Papelbon and Bryce Harper. But he did answer a question regarding the curtain call for Desmond.

"Not the way it was planned certainly, but wanted to recognize him," Williams said.

I think one of the most telling moments of the MASN video replay of the physical altercation between Papelbon and Harper was the first player to jump in the fray to try to stop the two from fighting was Desmond.

Always the team leader.