Can a player on a last-place team be credibly offended when a player on another last-place team calls him a clown?
The back-and-forth between Washington Nationals’ center fielder Victor Robles and Arizona Diamondbacks’ pitcher Madison Bumgarner over a garbage-time homer turned into a real-life clown show before the Nats’ 4-3 salvage win over the D-backs on Sunday.
Bumgarner accused Robles of showboating by staggering out of the batter’s box after the Arizona lefty had surrendered Robles’s third homer of the season in the eighth inning of Saturday’s 7-2 Arizona win.
After Robles responded Sunday by appearing in the dugout with a large, red clown nose taped over his own, he cost the Nats a chance for third-inning run with the first of two Nationals’ outs on the basepaths.