NEW YORK — Josh Willingham wound
up with a grand slam off Johan Santana after a wild sequence in the
first inning capped by an instant replay review, and the Washington
Nationals went on to beat the New York Mets 5-2 on Sunday.
Willingham's bases-loaded drive hit
the wall in left-center and was initially ruled in play. He tried to
stretch his triple when the ball got away from catcher Rod Barajas and
was tagged out, leaving both players sprawled across home plate.
After checking the replay, the umpires
ruled a home run.
Willingham followed his fifth career
grand slam with an RBI double in the third inning, helping the Nationals
beat Santana (1-1) for the first time since June 9, 2007.
Livan Hernandez (1-0) pitched a gem
against his former team, scattering five hits and three walks over seven
innings. He needed only 88 pitches before giving it over to the
bullpen, which surrendered a two-run homer by Mike Jacobs in the eighth
before finishing it up.
Matt Capps worked a perfect ninth
inning for his third save, allowing the Nationals (3-3) to reach .500
for the first time since April 5, 2008. They took two of three from the
Mets to win their first series at year-old Citi Field.
Hernandez was considered a long shot
to make the team after arriving at Nationals camp in February, and the
portly pitcher worked hard to get into shape. He allowed only two earned
runs in eight innings in two spring starts, helping him earn the last
spot in the rotation.
Washington made his season-debut an
easy one with a dramatic first inning.
Santana had loaded the bases with a
leadoff triple by Nyjer Morgan and walks to Willy Taveras and Adam Dunn,
before Willingham drove a 2-1 pitch deep.
The ball caromed off the wall into
center and the relay throw eventually got to Barajas, who was plowed
over by Dunn trying to score. The ball squirted free and Santana,
backing up the play, tossed it back to the catcher just before he was
run over again by Willingham. This time, Barajas managed to hold onto
the ball for the out.
Not that any of it mattered.
Nationals manager Jim Riggleman
immediately argued the play should have been a grand slam, and the
umpires conferred for a moment before heading to the replay booth.
The top of the outfield wall at
spacious Citi Field is about twice as high in left field as in center.
The orange line painted along the top to signify a home run is vertical
where the two sections meet, causing some confusion about whether the
long drive was in play.
Replays showed it hit just to the
right of the vertical line and over the horizontal line, and crew chief
Derryl Cousins quickly emerged to rule it was a home run.
Major League Baseball began using
replay in August 2008, following the NFL, NBA, NHL, some NCAA
competitions and Grand Slam tennis. Replay can only be used on home runs
involving boundary calls, such as whether a ball was fair or foul, or
whether it cleared the outfield wall.
Notes
The benches and bullpens
cleared in the ninth inning when Mets reliever Francisco Rodriguez hit
Willie Harris with a pitch. Both teams were warned but no punches were
thrown, and order was quickly restored. … Washington 3B Ryan Zimmerman
missed the game with a tight left hamstring. He is also expected to
miss Monday's game at Philadelphia.