Sunday was an especially dreary day, even by D.C. sports standards, and the rainy weather was only part of it. At Nationals Park, the Rockies defeated the Nationals, 6-5, on a ninth-inning home run by former National Ian Desmond. At Capital One Arena, the Capitals blew a two-goal lead for the second consecutive game to fall behind 2-0 in their first-round playoff series against the Blue Jackets. There was some joy to be found in the stands at both venues, though, and not only from the fans wearing Rockies jerseys and Blue Jackets sweaters.
At Nationals Park, MASN’s cameras caught a young Nationals fan and a young Rockies fan swapping home run balls and exchanging a fist bump in the eighth inning.
The Rockies fan had caught Nationals catcher Matt Wieters’s game-tying home run in the sixth inning. The Nationals fan had caught Rockies second baseman DJ LeMahieu’s go-ahead home run in the eighth. Both home runs landed in the first row of the right-center field seats, and the kids apparently decided it would be better to have a souvenir hit by a player from their favorite team. It was the best trade involving the Nationals and Rockies since Washington sent J.J. Davis and Zach Day to Colorado for Preston Wilson in July 2005.
There was an equally joyous moment during warm-ups at Capital One Arena, when Capitals forward Brett Connolly tossed a puck over the glass to a little girl in an Ovechkin sweater. Because nothing comes easily for the Capitals in the playoffs, it took three attempts for Connolly to get the puck in the hands of the young fan. (An adult in the second row caught the first two souvenirs Connolly tossed over the glass and handed them to a couple of other young fans flanking Connolly’s intended target.)
The disappointment on the girl’s face after the first two pucks escaped her grasp was a perfect encapsulation of the D.C. sports experience on Sunday. Her unfettered glee after finally being handed a puck offered the promise of better days ahead. Connolly and the Capitals will try, try again in Game 3 on Tuesday in Columbus.
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