Nationals Beat Angels on Every Front

One minute Angel rookie pitcher Ervin Santana was leaving to a standing ovation; the next minute players from both benches and bullpens were storming onto the Angel Stadium field, tempers flaring, arms flailing and two managers fuming, jawing at each other and practically challenging each other to fight.

That’s how quickly the Washington Nationals’ 6-3 come-from-behind victory over the Angels seemed to turn Tuesday night, from normal to nasty in about 60 seconds.

The bench-clearing incident in the seventh inning stemmed from the ejection of Angel reliever Brendan Donnelly because of a foreign substance -- pine tar -- on the heel of his glove.

After Donnelly replaced Santana with a 3-1 lead and completed his warm-up pitches, Washington Manager Frank Robinson asked home-plate umpire Tim Tschida to inspect Donnelly’s glove.

All four umpires convened near the mound, Angel Manager Mike Scioscia was called from the dugout, and after a lengthy discussion, Tschida and crew chief Dale Scott determined Donnelly to be in violation of baseball’s Rule 8.02B and ejected the reliever, who could also be suspended. The glove was confiscated and will be sent to the commissioner’s office today.

Scioscia then walked toward the first-base line, where Robinson was standing, and had a few choice words for the National manager.

“He told me he’s going to have every other pitcher of mine undressed -- I took that as a threat,” Robinson said. “I lost a lot of respect for Mike tonight as a person and a manager.”

Scioscia turned his back to Robinson and began walking toward the Angel dugout, but Robinson followed him, countering with a few choice words of his own.

“Frank obviously wasn’t happy -- he was screaming,” Scioscia said. “We weren’t making a lunch date.”

Angel and National players, taking a cue from their fearless leaders, flooded onto the field and formed a giant scrum in front of the mound. Though no punches appeared to be thrown, Angel batting instructor Mickey Hatcher had to be pulled from the fracas in a bear hug by National designated hitter Wil Cordero, and it took three men in Washington uniforms to haul right fielder Jose Guillen, the former Angel whom Scioscia suspended for insubordination last September, into the visiting dugout.

There was speculation that Guillen tipped off Robinson to Donnelly’s potential violation, but Robinson said his suspicions stemmed from watching video of the reliever and the funky action he has been getting on his pitches.

Robinson also accused Donnelly of “having sandpaper on his pitching hand. He either put it in his back pocket or gave it to Adam Kennedy,” but Scott, the crew chief, said, “We don’t know anything about any sandpaper.”

Told of this accusation, Scioscia erupted.

“Are you kidding me? That’s absolutely ridiculous,” Scioscia said. “He had pine tar in his glove. There was no sandpaper in his hand.”

Donnelly, when told of Robinson’s sandpaper accusation: “That’s a

While Scioscia acknowledged that Donnelly was in violation of a rule, he said it’s a “common practice for pitchers to use a little pine tar” to help with their grip on a cold or wet day.

Donnelly usually sweats profusely on the mound and has had trouble gripping the ball.

“Pine tar does not alter the flight of a ball,” Scioscia said.

“A lot of pitchers have it in their glove, and if you’re going to go out there [and challenge a pitcher] then you’re going to have to strip-search every pitcher who comes into a game.”

Scioscia claimed Donnelly had “a small dab” of pine tar on his glove; Scott, the crew chief, said there was “quite a bit” of pine tar on the glove.

“It’s just to get a grip, nothing more, nothing less,” Donnelly said. “If it was loaded up, it would be a brown ball.”

Asked if he told Robinson to check Donnelly’s glove, Guillen said, “Don’t go there. I don’t know anything. It’s not my business. I don’t care.”

Why, then, was Guillen so riled up during the melee?

“All I know is Mike should have shown more respect to Frank,” Guillen said. “You talk about respect and leadership. I don’t think he showed any there.”

When order was restored, Scioscia summoned reliever Scot Shields, who retired two batters to end the seventh. Scioscia then asked Tschida to check Washington reliever Gary Majewski’s glove before the bottom of the seventh, further fueling animosity between the teams.

Then, the Angels suffered the ultimate indignity: After taking a 3-1 lead on Darin Erstad’s two-out, run-scoring single and Vladimir Guerrero’s RBI double in the sixth off Washington starter Livan Hernandez, Guillen, a villain to Angel fans who booed him heartily before every at-bat Monday and Tuesday, lined a Shields pitch into the bullpen for a tying, two-run home run in the top of the eighth.

Guillen took his time rounding the bases, savoring every moment, and when he got to the National dugout, he forcefully high-fived his teammates. Washington took advantage of shortstop Orlando Cabrera’s error and tacked on two more unearned runs in the eighth, on Junior Spivey’s RBI single and Brian Schneider’s sacrifice fly.