Shortly before the start of tonight's Nationals game, word came down that Major League Baseball had suspended Nationals outfielder Nyjer Morgan seven games for throwing a ball into the stands last Saturday at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia. Morgan appealed his suspension and was able to play in tonight's game, where he batted in the leadoff spot and played centerfield.

When the alleged ball-throwing incident occurred is not clear. Adam Kilgore, using the official press release from MLB vice president of rules and on-field operations Bob Watson, said that the incident occurred in the middle of the ninth inning. However,Mark Zuckerman reports that the incident occurred after Morgan had caught the final out of the Nationals' 8-1 win, and the ball he threw struck a spectator. 

 UPDATE: Jeff Sullivan over at SB Nation, through the magic of MLB.TV, has a few seconds of video from after Morgan caught the final out of Saturday's game. He makes the catch, then fakes a flip into the right field bleachers, then holds the ball over his head as he jogs off and looks toward the center field bleachers. Sadly, that's all the video we have right now. This is going to be like replacing the 18-and-a- half-minute gap in Nixon's tapes, I can already tell.

 UPDATE 2: Zuckerman now says the throw occurred in the middle of the ninth inning. So disregard that SB Nation video.

UPDATE 3: Kilgore reports that the throw took place after the 8th inning, not in the 9th, and quotes an MLB official saying that Morgan had "an onoing dialogue" with a Philly fan that got heated. That sounds a bit more promising.