Papelbon returns to Philadelphia, blows lead, but Nationals win in 11 innings, 8-7

PHILADELPHIA Seven weeks removed from last donning red pinstripes, Jonathan Papelbon returned to Citizens Bank Park on Monday for the first time since the trade he so very much desired. The Washington Nationals closer embraced several former teammates and coaches during Phillies batting practice and later settled into a seat in the visitors’ bullpen.

But first, before the Nationals’ 8-7 win in 11 innings, a game in which he blew his first save of the season, the never-shy Papelbon took his chance to critique his last organization, questioning the desire of those on the opposing side.

“I don’t know if I got a bad rap here or whatever, but I can promise you I was 1/8far from3/8 the bad guy on this team,” he said. “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.”

The outspoken and often controversial Papelbon said he didn’t have any regrets about his time with Philadelphia, which began when he signed a four-year, $50 million contract in November 2011 and ended with the July 28 trade. The Phillies’ all-time saves leader was long vocal in his wish to leave town, but with the Nationals he has continued to find save opportunities few and far between.

The six-time All-Star has been relegated to mostly spectator as the preseason National League East favorites have played their way out of postseason contention. The struggles of the man Papelbon supplanted as closer, setup man Drew Storen, were well documented. They mounted last week when Storen broke his thumb while slamming his locker shut in frustration after the New York Mets’ three-game sweep.

The Nationals came into that series on Sept. 7 just four games behind the first-place Mets. They now trail by 9 1/2 games. Papelbon, seldom used this season with the Phillies, has garnered only seven save chances in 45 games with his new team. The seventh came Monday, when Freddy Galvis led off the 10th inning against him with a game-tying home run.

“Yeah, it is 1/8disappointing3/8,” Papelbon said of the Nationals’ recent stretch. “But I think in this game the only thing you can truly ask for is to be on a team that you’re happy being on and being in an environment where you have a chance or an opportunity to win. And neither one of those two were able to be done for me with the Phillies, and both of those were the reasons why I came to Washington.

“All I asked for was a chance to win and when you have a chance that’s all you can ask for. You lay the cards out and you see how they fold. It is what it is, you know?”

Papelbon didn’t name names in his criticism of the team that made him the richest relief pitcher in baseball history. The blame for the Phillies’ losing fortunes, Papelbon said, “goes all the way from the front office all the way down to the bat boy.”

“You don’t have a team atmosphere that’s put together that coincides with winning,” he said. “You got one guy’s going down to triple A. One guy’s coming back from Triple A next week. You’ve got different positions every week. That, to me, wasn’t a formula for winning.”

With the Eagles’ season opening at Atlanta on “Monday Night Football, the Phillies drew an announced crowd of 15,402, the third-worst attendance in the ballpark’s 12-year history and also the third-worst of this 10-game homestand.

Aaron Nola allowed a career-high three home runs, including a fifth-inning grand slam to Jayson Werth. Six earned runs over just five innings raised the rookie right-hander’s ERA to 4.11. But the Phillies, behind a three-run home run from Cody Asche, tagged Jordan Zimmermann for six runs of their own.

Werth’s solo home run off Dalier Hinojosa in the 10th inning set up Papelbon for his first save opportunity since Sept. 2. The closer ran from the bullpen to the mound to boos from those still scattered in the stands. Three pitches later, for the first time in 24 chances this season, he was charged his first blown save.

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