Nats' Redding erupts after loss

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By Mark Zuckerman

The strain of losing often can turn teammates against one another, as players point fingers at others who don't do their respective jobs to help the team win.

For more than four months, the Washington Nationals have avoided that kind of bickering.

Sometimes, though, it is unavoidable and comes out in a moment of frustration, and Tim Redding can probably attest to that now. Following a 4-3 loss to the Colorado Rockies Friday night - the Nationals' eighth straight - Redding couldn't hide his disgust over the play that perhaps determined the evening's outcome.

With two outs in the fifth and Washington clinging to a one-run lead, Colorado's Matt Holliday smoked a line drive to deep center field. Lastings Milledge initially took a step in before retreating back, and that instinctive reaction cost him a shot at catching the ball, which flew just over his outstretched glove.

Seth Smith came around to score the tying run, and moments later Redding left a fastball over the plate to Brad Hawpe, who drilled it to right-center for a two-run homer that propelled the Rockies to victory.

"Any time you give up runs with two outs it's frustrating," Redding said. "Any time you give up runs, period, it's frustrating. But the most frustrating is when you know the inning should have been over and you give up runs to guys that shouldn't have been at the plate."

Asked whether he thought Milledge should have caught the ball, Redding replied: "I'm not commenting. Next question. I made my point. We should have won the game."

Milledge accepted responsibility for the play.

"I should have made the play," he said. "I didn't make it."

Redding (8-8) didn't help his cause, either. He allowed a pair of home runs - a solo shot by Troy Tulowitzki in the third and Hawpe's two-run blast in the fifth - on fastballs over the heart of the plate. He's allowed five homers over his last two starts.

Redding went 6-3 with a 3.16 ERA through his first 10 starts. Then a nine-start stretch from late May through early July defied logic. Redding posted a 4.70 ERA and pitched at least five innings each time out yet wound up with no decisions during that span, one shy of the major league record.

Still, the veteran kept his team in those games and provided consistency, which prompted team officials to broach preliminary talks about a contract extension.

Redding's last seven outings may change some of those thoughts. He has allowed four or more runs five times, has made it past the sixth inning just once and after Friday night's loss now sports a 2-5 record and 6.16 ERA during that stretch.

Asked to assess his last month, the 30-year-old replied succinctly: "Horse [expletive]."

All that said, the Nationals still had their chances to earn their starter a win Friday night. Washington tried to chip away at the Rockies pitching staff and regain the lead but couldn't string together enough hits in succession to produce a big inning.

The Nationals scored one run a piece in the first, third and sixth innings, taking advantage of two wild pitches by Jorge de la Rosa, but swung and missed far too many times against the young left-hander.

Washington's hitters struck out 13 times, with rookie second baseman Emilio Bonifacio getting struck out four times to continue his downward spiral since a dazzling debut earlier this month.

In his first seven games as a member of the Nationals, Bonifacio hit .375 (12-for-32) with three triples, four RBI and five runs scored. In eight games since, he's hitting .074 (2-for-27) with 15 strikeouts.

"He needs to learn the strike zone," manager Manny Acta said. "He swings at a lot of pitches out of the strike zone. It's a learning process, simple as that."