WASHINGTON -- Reds manager Dusty Baker called his team's three-day visit to the nation's capital "taxing." Two rain delays and a 12-inning game -- even if it's a win -- have a way of leaving that impression. So does blowing a 2-1 lead and a series sweep in the eighth inning of the finale on an error.
That's just what happened to Cincinnati Thursday evening. Second baseman Brandon Phillips compounded some spotty relief work by the soft underbelly of the Cincy bullpen by throwing the ball away on a double-play attempt in the eighth. The error wound up plating the decisive run for the Nationals in a 3-2 win and cost the Reds a chance to move within a 1/2 game of first place in the NL Central.
Phillips was unapologetic for the airmailed throw that went past first baseman Adam Rosales and scored Washington shortstop Cristian Guzman.
