PHOENIX — Michael Taylor strode to the plate in the top of the ninth Wednesday afternoon, the bases loaded with Nationals in a tight ballgame, and every one of the 19,026 souls at Chase Field had to have the same reaction.
Of course it would happen like this. Really, could you have expected anything else?
Only two innings earlier, Taylor was underneath the first-base stands, stretching his legs for what he assumed could be a potential pinch-running opportunity at some point. Except out on the field, Bryce Harper was livid with Rob Drake, going face-to-face with the plate umpire and his refusal to appeal to third base on a check-swing call that ended the top of the seventh.