Washington
And seconds after that, Harper was rushing onto the field — to join the rest of the Washington Nationals in celebrating a dramatic 5-4 victory over the Detroit Tigers, yes, but also to scream what he acknowledged were “a couple choice words” at the umpire who tossed him in ninth inning Monday night.
Told that TV cameras captured him cursing in the direction of umpire Brian Knight after Robinson’s one-out drive off Mark Lowe, Harper replied: “Absolutely. I was pretty upset. … So let him hear what I have to say — and let him hear it again. And, you know, so what?”
Harper was ejected after Danny Espinosa struck out looking. According to Harper and manager Dusty Baker, several members of the Nationals were complaining about that call.
Once play resumed, Robinson connected with the second pitch he saw from Lowe (1-2). Oddly enough, Robinson did not realize what was at stake: He lost track of the inning and was sure it was the eighth, not the ninth.
Washington ace Stephen Strasburg got a no-decision on an evening when news emerged that he was going to skip his first chance at free agency, instead agreeing to a deal that will pay him $175 million from 2017-23.
New York
Brian McCann, Brett Gardner and Aaron Hicks also went deep to help the Yankees win the opener of a four-game series against the defending World Series champions.
Miami
Cincinnati
Houston
Altuve drove in two with a double in the third and Rasmus had a two-run single later in the inning to make it 4-0.
Kluber (2-4), coming off the second shutout of his career in his last outing against the Tigers, was chased after just 2 2/3 innings. He entered with a 1.48 ERA in five career appearances against the Astros, and had allowed just five earned runs in 30 1/3 innings against them.
On Monday he gave up five hits and five runs in his first loss since April 17.
Houston starter Mike Fiers (3-1) allowed season lows of one run and three hits in seven innings for his third straight win.
