The San Francisco Giants lost a rain-soaked contest against the Washington Nationals on Saturday night, but it was the Nationals that took the bigger long-term hit on a rain-soaked evening in the nation’s capital.
After Giants’ second baseman Joe Panik hit a home run in the top half of the first inning, Washington right-hander Edwin Jackson settled down and tossed six innings of five-hit ball to propel the Nationals to a 3-1 victory.
Panik’s home run was the only offense San Francisco managed against the first-place team in the National League East, as the Giants failed to build off the momentum they gained from back-to-back series wins over the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Chicago Cubs.
Shortly after the Giants took a 1-0 lead, Washington fought back with a pair of runs in the bottom of the inning off of Giants’ starter Jeff Samardzija, but the Nationals won’t remember the first inning for the comeback they managed.
Instead, the Nationals and their fans will bemoan an injury star outfielder Bryce Harper suffered running out a groundball up the first base line.
In his first and only plate appearance against Samardzija, Harper roped a ball up the first base line that rookie Ryder Jones snagged with a dive toward the foul line. Jones jumped to his feet and raced to the bag to beat Harper by a step and a half, but when Harper did reach the bag, disaster ensued.
When his foot touched down on first base, Harper took a dramatic tumble, and immediately began clutching his knee. The Nationals’ training staff and manager Dusty Baker rushed to the field to help Harper off, as Harper was unable to walk off under his own power.
Armed with a 14.0 game lead in the National League East, there’s not much that can derail the Nationals’ season at this point, but an injury to an MVP candidate like Harper is a worst-case scenario. Though it remains to be seen how much time Harper misses, his injury cast a pall over a game that started three hours late due to wet weather.
For the second straight day, the Nationals and Giants were forced into a rain delay due to storms in Washington, D.C., and after deciding to postpone Friday’s contest, the teams were forced to wait and do everything in their power to get the game in.
Despite soggy conditions and a considerable amount of water on the field, San Francisco and Washington wound up commencing their three-game series past 10 p.m. local time on Saturday night. And shortly after the game starter, Harper’s injury reminded the clubs of the danger of playing in harsh conditions.
The Giants and Nationals will square off twice on Sunday in a split doubleheader to make up for Friday’s postponement, as San Francisco will send Chris Stratton to the mound in the first game and lefty Matt Moore to the hill in game two.