Matt Williams puts up another strong performance in his quest to get himself fired

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It’s like watching a car crash. Wait, that’s not quite right. A car crash happens quickly and, in the moment, there’s a sense that you can’t do anything to stop it, so that’s not it.

This is more like watching someone slowly pedal a tricycle over a cliff. Only you notice them heading toward the edge 200 feet before they get there, you keep yelling at them to stop, at first panicked and then almost amused at just how determined they are to roll over the edge. But they don’t stop so instead of trying to stop them you just sit back and marvel at their suicidal determination. Hey, if they have no sense of urgency or regard for their own well-being, why in the hell should you?

I’m talking about Matt Williams and his performance behind the handlebars of the Radio Flyer that is the 2015 Washington Nationals. Last night he wheeled them and himself ever closer to the edge, wheels squeaking, horn honking and bell ringing. At this rate, we’ll soon see the little orange flag attached to the back flutter and then watch them disappear entirely.

The Nats carried a 5-3 lead into the eighth inning against the St. Louis Cardinals last night. As Williams said after Monday’s late innings loss, the eighth inning belongs to Drew Storen. Except Storen didn’t have anything. He allowed the first two batters to reach, one via a plunking, and then allowed a run to score on his own throwing error. After an intentional walk he induced a double play which scored a run — fair enough tradeoff I suppose — and then got out of the inning. The game was tied 5-5.

In the ninth inning, Matt Williams had a choice. He could go to Jonathan Papelbon, one of the best closers in baseball history and the big piece for which Mike Rizzo traded at the deadline, or he could go with Casey Janssen, who imploded to give up four runs in Monday night’s debacle, throwing 26 pitches. Williams went with Janssen. Who, after getting two outs, gave up a double and a walk, likely due to the fatigue of throwing 45 high-leverage pitches in two nights to that point.

Why not go with Papelbon, either to start the inning or after it was clear that Janssen was tiring? Here’s Williams:

“We want him closing games out, yeah. So we’re down to two guys. We need a one inning guy there because we’re going to have to hit for the pitcher anyway and we’re going to have to go long with Sammy [Solis] in that regard.”

Which is to say that Jonathan Papelbon, as a closer, needs to pitch only with a lead and can never come in a game in the middle of an inning. Never mind that he’s your best relief pitcher and has hardly been used in the second half. Never mind that Janssen authored the previous night’s loss. Never mind that Williams already knew the Mets lost and that this game gave him a GOLDEN opportunity to make up some ground. And never mind that the Cardinals have scored 10 runs in the seventh through ninth innings over the past two nights, with Jonathan Papelbon not once getting into the game.

The book says you don’t use your closer in a tie game on the road, dammit. And that holds even if the alternative is letting a known arsonist into the fireworks shop and asking him to make sure the place is locked up before he leaves.

The result:

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Credit to Brandon Moss and the Cardinals, of course. They’re the best team in the game this year and they’re gonna get theirs more often than they don’t. But they didn’t need to get this one. Or the one the night before. Those are games that even the good teams in the Cards’ position lose and even the bad teams in the Nats’ position win more often than not.

The Nats are not a bad team as we tend to think of bad teams. They just have a bad manager. A bad manager who will be looking for a job soon. As soon as early this afternoon if I or anyone with anything approaching a sense of urgency was running the Washington Nationals.

Arraez lifts average to .399, Marlins overcome four-run deficit in 9-6 win over Royals

Rich Storry-USA TODAY Sports
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MIAMI – Luis Arraez had three hits to raise his major league-leading batting average to .399, and the Miami Marlins beat the Kansas City Royals 9-6 on Monday night.

Arraez drove in two runs for the Marlins, who erased an early four-run deficit and won their fourth straight game. Bryan De La Cruz hit his eighth homer, while Jon Berti, Nick Fortes and Joey Wendle had two hits apiece.

Braxton Garrett (2-2) overcame a difficult start and completed five innings of four-run ball. The left-hander gave up six hits and struck out six.

Arraez’s RBI single capped a four-run fourth and put Miami ahead 6-4. Berti hit a two-run triple and Jonathan Davis followed with an RBI double as the Marlins got five consecutive hits against reliever Mike Mayers with two outs.

Miami increased its lead to 9-4 on De La Cruz’s two-run drive against Josh Staumont in the sixth.

The Royals narrowed the gap to 9-6 on Drew Waters’ run-scoring single off Steven Okert in the ninth. Dylan Floro relieved Okert with one out and retired Bobby Witt Jr. on a double-play grounder for his seventh save.

Carlos Hernández opened for the Royals and retired six straight. Mayers (1-1) took over in the third and allowed Davis’ RBI grounder and Arraez’s run-scoring double.

Mayers, who pitched six scoreless innings of relief and carried a combined perfect game into the seventh against St. Louis in his previous appearance May 29, gave up seven runs and nine hits over three innings.

Kansas City struck quickly on MJ Melendez’s RBI single and Salvador Pérez’s run-scoring single in the first.

Nick Pratto’s solo shot and Melendez’s second run-scoring single in the third made it 4-0.

TIME CHANGE

The start time of the series finale Wednesday night has been moved up 30 minutes to 6:10 p.m. With the Miami Heat playing their first home game of the NBA Finals against the Denver Nuggets later that night, Marlins management sought to reduce the window of both events coinciding.

BONDING EXPERIENCE

The Royals renewed their annual “Fathers Trip” during series stops in Miami and Baltimore. Fathers, fathers-in-law, and brothers of current Royals players and staff travel with the group. They stay in the team hotel and have the option of riding on chartered buses. The trip became a Royals tradition until it was interrupted in 2020 because of the pandemic.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Royals: 1B Vinnie Pasquantino was rested but was available to pinch-hit.

Marlins: OF Jazz Chisholm Jr. (turf toe) is scheduled to visit a foot specialist on Wednesday to determine his progression. … LHP A.J. Puk (elbow nerve irritation) was in the clubhouse before the game but has not been activated after one-inning rehab appearances with Double-A Pensacola on Friday and Saturday.

UP NEXT

Royals RHP Zack Greinke (1-5, 4.19 ERA) starts the middle game of the series Tuesday. Greinke is 7-0 against the Marlins. LHP Jesús Luzardo (4-4, 4.05) pitches for Miami.