It’s been a few years since the Washington Nationals were a legitimate threat in Major League Baseball, and frustrations seem to be boiling.
In the top of the second in a game against the more-lowly Miami Marlins, Miami catcher Nick Fortes hit a chopper down the third base line that was grabbed by Nick Senzel on a backhand.
Senzel made the long throw, but Fortes beat it by a step. And a runner on third scored, giving the Marlins an early 1-0 lead.
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Nick Senzel and MacKenzie Gore got into an altercation in their dugout Friday. (Getty/Imagn)
Almost immediately, the broadcast team wondered if Senzel could have thrown it “any harder than that.”
Apparently, pitcher MacKenzie Gore felt the same way because he approached Senzel in the dugout after the inning.
Senzel and Gore were animated while speaking to one another before Senzel shoved Gore. Teammates held Gore back and pushed him aside before things could escalate further. Even Lane Thomas seemed to take Senzel’s side, ordering Gore to move away.
That seemed to fire the Nats up, though, considering they scored seven runs in the third inning in an 8-1 victory.
Nick Senzel of the Washington Nationals prepares to bat against the Atlanta Braves during the sixth inning at Nationals Park June 7, 2024, in Washington, D.C. (Jess Rapfogel/Getty Images)
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Gore wound up tossing seven innings of five-hit, 10-strikeout ball.
Senzel was tight-lipped about the confrontation after the game, saying it was “no one else’s business.”
“It’s just the situation. We worked it out internally. What stays in here stays in here, and that’s really all there is to it,” he said. “We’re competitors. We handled it.”
Gore also accepted blame.
“That’s something I can’t do. That’s on me. It’s in here, we figured it out,” he said.
MacKenzie Gore of the Washington Nationals pitches to the Miami Marlins during the second inning at Nationals Park June 14, 2024, in Washington, D.C. (Jess Rapfogel/Getty Images)
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The Nats improved to 33-36 on the season, while the Marlins fell to 23-46.
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