The Washington Nationals hit two home runs out of Citi Field on Thursday night. Each blast was followed by a hit-by-pitch from New York Mets' starter Bartolo Colon. After the second one, on Jayson Werth, Colon was ejected from the series opener.
Washington Nationals' first baseman Adam LaRoche's first inning home run, which bounced off the top of the netting on the foul pole in right field in Citi Field, was the 34-year-old middle-of-the-order bat's 24th of the season.
It was followed by a hit-by-pitch on Nats' shortstop Ian Desmond, who took his base.
It was the fourth hit by pitch from the 41-year-old Colon this season in 180 ⅓ IP to that point.
The Nationals took a 2-0 lead on LaRoche's home run, and an RBI single by the veteran infielder in the third made it 3-0.
A bases-loaded line drive by Wilson Ramos bounced off Colon's glove later in the third, driving the Nationals' fourth run in and making it 4-0.
In the top of the fourth, Nats' leadoff man Denard Span bunted his way on and Anthony Rendon homered to left in the next at bat.
Colon's fifth hit batter of the season was Jayson Werth, who took an 89 mph first-pitch fastball in the shoulder on the very next pitch from the Mets' starter.
Werth directed some words toward the mound, but tossed his bat aside and took his base as home plate umpire John Tumpane ejected Colon.
Mets' skipper Terry Collins came out to argue on his pitcher's behalf and got himself tossed as well. Colon walked by Werth on his way off the field, but the Nats' right fielder didn't bother to look his way.
After the Nationals' 6-2 win in Citi Field, Nationals' manager Matt Williams was asked if he though the pitches were intentional.
"Well, I don't have a clue," Williams said. "I know that Bartolo has got fantastic control. And he hit [Desmond] early in the game, skimmed him with a pitch and then lost one and hit Jayson. So I don't have an opinion one way or the other, all I know is that he has exceptional control. So, we deal with it and move on."
"I didn't talk to Bart about it," Mets' skipper Terry Collins said, "but we'll just leave it at that."
Collins said he was arguing just for the sake of protecting his player, but knew he would lose the argument.
Werth, when asked for his thoughts on the HBP, told the Washington Post's Adam Kilgore the following:
Jayson Werth on the Nats' response to Bartolo Colon hitting him: "We don't have time for bulls---."
— Adam Kilgore (@AdamKilgoreWP) September 12, 2014• We talked about the HBPs, the Nationals' 12-game winning streak in Citi Field, Tanner Roark's outing and more on the latest edition of Nats Nightly: