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MIAMI - The Nationals have lost control of tonight's game against the Marlins, and they're starting to lose their composure, as well.
Todd Coffey, who was taken out in favor of Doug Slaten a minute ago after giving up a double and two walks, was ejected from the game after he gave home plate umpire Tim Tschida a few unsolicited (and probably unprintable) opinions of his strike zone on his way off the mound. Tschida tossed Coffey, who threw his glove down on the field and went over to go nose-to-nose with Tschida before manager Jim Riggleman could separate the two.
It's 7-4 Marlins now, headed into the ninth inning. Coffey came in as part of a double switch, with Alex Cora replacing Danny Espinosa at second. Cora is due up second in this inning, but it's questionable whether the Nationals would have needed to use him at all. They could have left Espinosa in the game, pinch hit for Coffey with Matt Stairs and put in Sean Burnett if they'd somehow taken the lead. Instead, Cora will bat behind Ivan Rodriguez in an order that looks to have little hope of rallying.
