Nationals closer Rafael Soriano blew his third save of the season on Tuesday night when San Francisco's Gregor Blanco hit an RBI single over the head of Bryce Harper in the bottom of the ninth inning to tie the game at two.
After Pablo Sandoval hit a walk-off home run in the bottom of the 10th off Washington's Yunesky Maya, Soriano criticized Harper's positioning on the game-tying play.
"With two outs and the tying run at first, you have to play the outfield so the ball doesn't go over your head,'' Soriano said in Spanish, according to USA Today. "It may not have been a catch-able ball, but if we're positioned the right way, there might have been a different outcome. With two outs, I could tell my four-year-old son, 'You know where you need to play,' and he would go to the right spot to make the play. It's not an excuse, and I'm not speaking badly about anybody, but I think that's how you play the game.''
With Washington leading 2-1 in the bottom of the ninth, Andres Torres scored on Blanco's triple when Harper appeared to hesitate while chasing down the ball heading towards the wall. It sailed over his head and bounced off the auxiliary scoreboard in center field.
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Harper told reporters after the loss that he attributed the flub to his collision with a wall last week at Dodger Stadium that left him with 11 stitches under his chin.
"I should have caught it," Harper said. "I put that whole loss on me."
The Giants won the game 4-2 when Pablo Sandoval crushed a two-run homer in the tenth inning.
UPDATE: Soriano told James Wagner of the Washington Post that he is not upset with Harper.
"I tried to do my job and I didn’t do it,” Soriano said in Spanish, via the Washington Post. “(The play) wasn’t an error. He was in the position and I threw the pitch I shouldn’t have. And that’s what happened. And after we finished talking, I made the mistake of saying that to [the reporter]. And he put it in there with what I said."
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