Alex Avila wasn’t supposed to play at all for the Washington Nationals on Thursday night, let alone play second base.
But there he was, on less than two hours’ notice, wearing Jordy Mercer’s glove, warming up at the keystone sack in the top of the first inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
“I was just trying to have fun with it and trying my best not to embarrass the team,” Avila told reporters after the Dodgers won 6-2 in a rain-shortened five innings.
Manager Davey Martinez penciled Avila’s name in for his first career start at second base, apparently after making a number of erasures because of a rash of injuries to the Nats’ infielders.