As a Rule, Things Don't Go Nats' Way

SAN FRANCISCO, May 8 -- The game was ultimately decided in the bottom of the 13th inning, when San Francisco Giants shortstop Omar Vizquel lined a ball to right field. Jose Guillen, the Nationals right fielder who had made this weekend of baseball by the bay so promising for Washingtonians, took a step in, then watched the ball sail over his head, the double that drove in Jason Ellison with the winning run in the Giants' 4-3 victory, preventing a Nationals sweep.

But after a four-hour game that endured 45 minutes of rain delays and 13 grueling innings, most of the Nationals felt things never, ever should have gotten that far.

"I look at it as they scored two runs," Nationals Manager Frank Robinson said, "and they beat us in a ballgame when we scored three runs."

So go back to the bottom of the eighth, with the Nationals up 3-2 on Guillen's eighth homer of the year in the first, a sacrifice fly he hit in the fifth and a long fly ball he ripped to center in the seventh that ultimately went as a two-base error, with Jamey Carroll scoring from first. Right-hander Esteban Loaiza was sailing along, and retired the first two men in the eighth.

But with two outs, Vizquel singled to right. He had already been involved in the day's first controversy, when first base umpire Angel Hernandez called him safe on a grounder in the fifth -- even though replays showed otherwise -- a call that allowed the Giants to tie the game at 2.

This time, with Vizquel at first, third baseman Edgardo Alfonzo ripped a ball down the left field line. It took two hops, and a young Giants fan leaned over the fence, putting his baseball glove on it. Left fielder Brad Wilkerson raised his hands immediately. Third base umpire Charlie Reliford responded. Vizquel was awarded a double.

The surprise, though, came next. The umpiring crew ruled Vizquel would have scored, shocking Robinson, who was already in to remove Loaiza, and infuriating Wilkerson, who ran in from left field to argue.

"I was really surprised because I saw him not even on third base yet," Loaiza said. "He was about 10 yards off of third base. I thought I was coming out of the game with the lead still."

Wilkerson, Robinson and third baseman Vinny Castilla remained in the infield, arguing with all four umpires.

"What I tried to go in there and say was: In order to call a play like that, it has to be obvious," Wilkerson said. "To me, it wasn't obvious, because I was going to cut the ball off 15 feet short of the wall. You can't assume you're going to score just because the ball was touched."

Reliford, the crew chief, said home plate umpire Lance Barksdale made the ruling because he had the best view. The rule leaves it to the discretion of the umpire to award the runner the base they believe he would have reached had there been no interference.

Robinson's argument -- "How do you know he would have scored?" -- went nowhere, and the game was left for the bullpens to decide. The previous two games, in which the Giants used 11 relievers and the Nationals scored 10 runs off them, would have seemed to tip the momentum in Washington's favor. But the Giants' bullpen didn't allow a run in six innings Sunday, even when the Nationals put a man on third with one out in the 10th. Then, lefty Scott Eyre struck out Nick Johnson on a nasty breaking ball and got Endy Chavez to bounce into a fielder's choice.

The Nationals countered with 6-foot-11 right-hander Jon Rauch, who retired all nine men he faced from the 10th through the 12th. In the 13th, though, Ellison started things with an infield single, another close call at first. With Vizquel set to bunt, Rauch unleashed a wild pitch, allowing Ellison to second.

"If I make the pitch to Vizquel and let him bunt," Rauch said, "it's a different ballgame."

Instead, Vizquel hit the liner to Guillen, who meant just about everything to the Nationals in Saturday's dramatic 11-8 win. This time, though, he made one wrong step.

"The guy was on second, nobody out, so I was playing in a little bit," Guillen said. "He hit a line drive. It was kind of taking off, and it just went over my head."

So the Nationals headed to Arizona, where they will complete their first western swing with three games this week, downtrodden rather than dancing.

"You go out there on the field, you compete, and if you get beat, you get beat," Robinson said. "But you don't like for it to be taken away from you."