When the gunshots started to echo all around Nationals Park, San Diego Padres star shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. quickly thought about the team’s family members and friends in the seats.
Tatis bolted from the bench down the left field line Saturday night, helped open a gate to the stands and began ushering a group back to the dugout to shelter.
“Our family, loved ones, little kids. Feel like somebody needed to go get them,” Tatis said Sunday. “I feel like the safest place was the clubhouse and we were trying to get our families into a safe place.”
The top half of the sixth inning in the game between the Padres and Washington Nationals had just ended in front of about 33,000 fans when several shots were heard from an incident that occurred on South Capitol Street, just outside the third-base side of the stadium.
The exchange of gunfire between people in two cars, left three people injured, according to Ashan Benedict, the Metropolitan Police Department’s executive assistant police chief. One of the people who was shot was a woman who was attending the game and who was struck while she was outside the stadium, he said Saturday night. Her injuries weren’t considered life-threatening.
But in the moment, no one knew whether the rapid series of shots was coming from inside the ballpark or beyond.
Padres manager Jayce Tingler was on his way to see plate umpire Jordan Baker about a pitching change in a game San Diego led 8-4 and was suspended at that point.
“He’s like, ‘Did you hear that?’ " Tingler recalled Baker saying. “I’m like, ‘Yeah, I think so’ and it kind of registered what it possibly could have been and obviously it was just a nightmare.”
A chaotic scene quickly developed. As the Padres cleared the field, some fans rushed to leave the stadium while others ducked and tried to hide, looking for cover.
“Everybody running. It was crazy. You couldn’t figure out what was going on. If it was one or two people,” Tatis said. “I was just trying to get to the safest place and get our families.”
Tatis and teammates Manny Machado and Wil Myers drew praise for helping guide — and even carry — fans out of harm’s way.
“The situation changed immediately,” Tatis said. “There’s no longer players, fans. I feel like everybody’s just people, human beings trying to be secure.”
The game was halted then and completed on Sunday, with the Padres finishing off a 10-4 win before Washington won the regularly scheduled game, 8-7. Alcides Escobar homered in the eighth inning of the latter, then hit a winning single in the ninth.
“I think last night was obviously something none of us had ever experienced,” longtime Nationals star Ryan Zimmerman said. “Coming to finish a game under those circumstances was a little bit weird for all us, but you have to move on and play the game. But it was definitely different.”
Prior to the games, the Nationals released a statement crediting their fans for staying calm and helping one another on Saturday.
“We have always knows that we have the best fans in baseball. Last night, you showed it,” it read. “[Nationals manager] Davey Martinez said it best — our fans are our family. Thank you.”
Jacob deGrom returns to injured list
The Mets placed righthanded pitcher Jacob deGrom on the 10-day injured list with right forearm tightness, when it became clear he wouldn’t be able to start Sunday in Pittsburgh
DeGrom first experienced the tightness before the All-Star Game; an MRI on Friday confirmed the issue is in his forearm and that there is no structural damage to his elbow. Mets manager Luis Rojas said the injury is not related to the forearm flexor injury that deGrom had earlier this season.
“I guess it’s good news whenever structurally, everything looks good, but,” said deGrom, who has a major league-best 1.08 ERA in 16 starts, “the level of frustration now is really high.”
The Mets bounced back from squandering a 6-0 lead and losing on Saturday night, winning, 7-6, despite the Pirates taking a 6-0 lead in the first inning. Michael Conforto hit a two-run homer in the ninth inning to complete a huge comeback and bail out starter Taijuan Walker.
Not only did Walker record just one out, but a fielding gaffe scored three Pittsburgh runs. With the bases loaded and one out, Pittsburgh’s Kevin Newman hit a dribbler down the third base line. The ball started out in foul territory, but then began spinning back toward the line. Walker swooped in and swatted at the ball, trying to make contact while it was still in foul ground, but TV replays showed the ball was touching the chalk when Walker hit it.
Walker turned to argue the correct call of fair ball as the ball rolled toward the Pirates dugout, and no Mets reacted to retrieve it. The three Pittsburgh runners took off and kept running, and all came around to score. Rojas immediately ran out to argue the call and was quickly ejected.
Also Sunday, Pittsburgh signed the No. 1 overall pick in last week’s MLB Draft, Louisville catcher Henry Davis. Davis agreed to a signing bonus of $6.5 million, nearly $2 million below the slot value of $8.4 million.
Another comeback win for Rays
Yandy Diaz homered during a four-run rally in the seventh inning and Tampa Bay won in Atlanta, 7-5, its 28th come-from-behind win of the season. That total is second only to the 29 by the AL East-leading Red Sox. Veteran catcher Stephen Vogt, acquired by Atlanta from Arizona late Friday night, drove in a run and got three hits in his debut . . . Lourdes Gurriel Jr. hit a first-inning grand slam, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. slugged his 31st homer of the season, and George Springer and Randal Grichuk also went deep for Toronto as the Blue Jays cruised to a 10-0 win, sweeping a doubleheader with Texas in Buffalo, N.Y., they’d begun with a 5-0 win. It was the first time the Rangers were shut out twice in a day since the team moved to Texas in 1972. Hyun Jin Ryu threw a three-hitter for his third career shutout in the opener . . . Carlos Rodón (8-3) allowed one hit through seven dominant innings as the White Sox topped Houston, 4-0. After the Astros won the first five between the teams head-to-head, outscoring them, 34-9, they were held to four hits total the last two games in Chicago . . . J.T. Realmuto followed a two-run walk-off homer in the completion of Saturday’s suspended game with a 3-for-5 performance with two RBIs and Philadelphia beat Miami, 7-4. Realmuto’s two-run 10th-inning blast gave the Phillies a 4-2 win to begin the day, after thunderstorms halted Saturday’s game two pitches into the 10th inning . . . Corbin Burnes (5-4) returned to All-Star form, striking out 12 in a career best 8⅓ innings as Milwaukee beat Cincinnati, 8-0, for a three-game sweep that expanded its NL Central lead to seven games . . . Charlie Blackmon hit a solo homer in the bottom of the 10th to give Colorado a 6-5 victory over the Dodgers in Denver, spoiling the best outing of the year for David Price. He went a season-high four innings as an opener, allowing one run on two hits. Mookie Betts was out of the lineup after leaving Saturday night’s game in the seventh inning because of right hip irritation, but is expected back Monday . . . Matt Harvey (4-10) ended a 12-start winless streak, allowing just three singles and a walk in six innings as Baltimore shut out Kansas City, 5-0 . . . Seattle outfielder Jake Fraley went on the COVID-19 list after testing positive on Saturday. Manager Scott Servais said Fraley was experiencing COVID-19 symptoms and has been quarantined.