Neither the Nationals nor the Royals have been able to score runs with any regularity down the stretch of the season, so maybe it was appropriate tonight’s interleague series opener between the two was scoreless into the ninth inning.
The only difference: One of these teams is fighting for its life to secure an unlikely postseason berth, while the other is playing out the string for the fifth straight year.
And at night’s end, the Royals managed to keep their hopes alive with a 1-0, 10-inning victory made possible only because of a Nationals error.
Nasim Nuñez’s low throw to first allowed automatic runner Kyle Isbel to score from second to finally break the scoreless deadlock. And when the Nats couldn’t get their automatic runner home in the bottom of the inning, they were left to stew over their 17th shutout loss of the season.
"It all came down to one play. And execution, not being able to hit the ball," manager Davey Martinez said. "It's kind of been a common theme these last few weeks."