Jonathan Papelbon downplays Phillies' chance to play spoiler
Closer got his wish to go to a winner when dealt to Nationals, but now they're on the verge of elimination, maybe at Phils' hands.
WASHINGTON - When Pete Mackanin and the Phillies arrived at Nationals Park yesterday afternoon, they had the chance to take part in the conclusion of the National League East race before the end of the weekend - and possibly as early as today.
The New York Mets' magic number to clinch the division was 3, meaning that any combination of Mets wins and Nationals losses that totaled three in the coming weekend would crown New York the champ and eliminate Washington from playoff contention.
"In the end, it would be kind of nice to do that," said Mackanin, whose team entered Washington a loser of eight of its previous nine games. "But it's not something that I set out to do. I'd rather just win the game . . . At this stage, I look at all theses L's in September and would like to put a couple W's on there, because it's more fun. Winning a couple games creates energy. But I won't say that it won't be somewhat fun to knock someone out."
It was pointed out to Mackanin that the alternative to Washington's getting eliminated this weekend would be the Mets' clinching against the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park early next week.
"That's a good point, too," Mackanin acknowledged.
Across the way, inside the Washington Nationals home clubhouse, Jonathan Papelbon was greeted with more than a handful of joking hugs and pats on the back from his somewhat-new teammates. Two hours earlier, Papelbon was levied a three-game suspension and an undisclosed fine from Major League Baseball for intentionally throwing a pitch toward the head of Baltimore's Manny Machado on Wednesday.
A Nationals media relations representative said Papelbon wasn't allowed to talk, since he was in the process of appealing the suspension. But Papelbon - never one to shy away from talking, period - was game for questions regarding the irony of leaving the Phillies to join a team he could win with, only to be in position to watch the same Phillies eliminate his team from the race in the next 48 hours.
"Well, it's not over until it's over. You know who said that? Pretty famous guy," Papelbon began, paying tribute to Hall of Famer Yogi Berra, who died this week. "So, that's the way we're taking it."
In the two months since the Phillies sent Papelbon to Washington in exchange for pitching prospect Nick Pivetta, the Nationals were three games under .500 (26-29) entering play last night. They've gone from holding a two-game lead atop the NL East to facing a 7 1/2 game deficit with 10 games to play.
"We've been playing baseball, trying to win, and that's the only approach we've taken here," Papelbon said. "It doesn't always work out that way. We've put ourself in a bad spot . . . It's hard to put your finger on what exactly went wrong, but, you know, it all boils down to winning. The good thing about it is everybody still comes in here every day and tries to win, regardless of what the situation is."
Except Papelbon didn't necessarily put his team in the best shape to win when he was ejected from a game less than 48 hours earlier for beaning Machado . . . and now with the possibility of facing a three-game suspension, once his appeal is heard. But the Nationals are on the brink of being eliminated anyway, so, we digress.
Looking back, Papelbon said he doesn't have a single regret in signing off on the trade, which keeps him in a Nationals uniform for 2016, too.
"This was one of the best decisions I've made for myself and my family. I've felt welcome here," Papelbon said. "I really do. I like it here."
Papelbon wasn't a fan of playing for the Phillies in the last three seasons, even while becoming their all-time saves leader, with 113. Less than two weeks ago, he made his first return to Citizens Bank Park since the trade and was critical of his former team.
"I can promise you I was, by far, (from being) the bad guy on this team," Papelbon said on Sept. 14. "I was one of the few that wanted to actually win, and I was one of the few that competed and posted up every day."
On that day, he also said "the blame goes all the way from the front office all the way down to the bat boy."
Later that night, Papelbon blew his first save of the season when Freddy Galvis hit a game-tying home run off him. With nearly two weeks to think about it, does Papelbon regret the way those words came out, when he questioned his former team's desire to win?
"I played with a lot of great guys over there," Papelbon said. "I cherish all those friendships and memories I had over there, and the record - for sure, I cherish that. Sometimes, things don't work out, and that's just the way it went. What can you do, you know? You have to keep chugging along."
Things haven't exactly worked out for Papelbon in Washington, either, as the Mets entered the weekend on the verge of clinching their first division title in nine years, while the Nationals' uber-talented roster has flopped.
"I'm surprised by the position (Washington) is in," Mackanin said. "It has nothing to do with Papelbon. I'm surprised that they're not in a better position . . . I think a lot of people were surprised with the Mets, how well they did it. I think when they made those additions to their lineup, it really put them over the hump. Gave them some kind of momentum. Talk about creating energy. You add one guy like a (Yoenis) Cespedes in that lineup, everyone else starts taking off. Anyway, I'm sure - well, I don't want to go there with Pap."
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