Guillen, Nats Get In the Last Word

The immediate assumption was that Guillen, who was a teammate of Donnelly's last season, provided Robinson with the information that Donnelly uses pine tar. Robinson said that was untrue, and Guillen concurred.

"Don't go there," Guillen said. "I don't know anything. That's not my business. I don't really care."

Robinson said he and the coaching staff were tipped off to Donnelly's use of pine tar by studying videotape. Eddie Robinson, the club's video technician, acknowledged that as he tape of opposing teams, he points out potential problems to the coaching staff, but wouldn't say if he did so in this instance.

Scioscia said he didn't know if Guillen had tipped off the Nationals.

"I don't know where he gets his information," Scioscia said of Frank Robinson.

Frank Robinson said that he also suspected that Donnelly had sandpaper on his hand, but he either put it in his pocket or handed it to second baseman Adam Kennedy before the umpires could discover it. Scott, the crew chief, said the crew found no evidence of sandpaper.

"That's absolutely ridiculous," Scioscia said.

"That's a [expletive] lie," Donnelly said.

When he emerged from the huddle, he signaled with his right arm to the Angels bullpen, calling for reliever Scot Shields. That's when Scioscia walked toward Robinson, still standing on the first baseline. Scioscia made a brief argument, then turned back toward the Angels dugout. Robinson, less than two months shy of his 70th birthday, followed, pointing and yelling. The two men nearly came face to face, and the benches and bullpens emptied.

In the middle of it all, Guillen exploded. He had to be restrained by bench coach Eddie Rodriguez and bullpen catcher and batting practice pitcher Jose Martinez, who dragged him back to the dugout. Guillen said afterward that no Angels said anything to get upset him, but that he felt Scioscia had disrespected Robinson.

"That's the stuff that [ticked] me off," Guillen said. "All I know is, Mike should show more respect . . . [He] talks about respect, leadership. I don't think he showed anything right there at all. That's it. Simple."

When it all calmed down, the Nationals still trailed by two, and Scioscia responded by having the glove of Washington reliever Gary Majewski inspected. It was clean, Scott said.

Then, the worst-case scenario for the Angels -- Guillen as the hero. Shields opened the eighth by hitting Ryan Church with a pitch, and Guillen followed with a screaming line shot to left, into the Angels bullpen, his 11th homer of the year and first since May 25.

"A great swing," Nationals center fielder Brad Wilkerson said. "That thing was a missile that went out of here."

With one out, the Nationals' rally continued when Angels shortstop Orlando Cabrera booted a ball hit by Vinny Castilla. Wil Cordero singled Castilla to third, and Spivey followed with a sharp single to right, making it 4-3. Brian Schneider drove home the final run of the inning on a sacrifice fly, and the Nationals added another -- on another error by Cabrera, the former Montreal Expo, in the ninth.

Luis Ayala and Chad Cordero finished off the Angels, Cordero recording his 20th save. But there is one more game remaining in this series. And as much as Guillen has decided that "the past is the past" would serve as his mantra when dealing with questions about Anaheim, he made sure Tuesday night that the past would resurface again.

"I don't really care about any of those guys," Guillen said. "I'm a Washington Nationals player. I'm not an Anaheim Angels player. I got a job."