NEW YORK -- Ruben Tejada likely wouldn't have scored, anyway.
Bryce Harper made a great throw to the plate when Tejada was trying to score in the fifth inning Wednesday, and Nationals catcher Jose Lobaton had plenty of time to take the throw and set up for a possible collision.
But instead of a collision, there was confusion.
Tejada, believing that the new rules on plays at the plate ruled out running into the catcher, went in standing up and tried unsuccessfully to step around Lobaton.
"He didn't know what to do, so he did nothing," Mets manager Terry Collins said. "He said, 'I didn't know I could hit [the catcher].'"
While the new rule attempts to protect the catcher, the runner can collide with a catcher who has the ball and is blocking the plate. Collins said he would have been fine with Tejada trying to slide.
"He does have to slide," Collins said. "He has to do at least that."
Curtis Granderson wasn't clear on what happened with Tejada, but understood how the new rule could cause some confusion.
"I'm sure there's going to be some plays where you're going to be in between," Granderson said. "Hopefully it doesn't end up being some kind of issue."
Bart's debut: How well did Bartolo Colon pitch in his Mets debut?
"I thought I pitched very well," Colon said through an interpreter.
Colon allowed three runs off nine hits in six innings in the Mets' 5-1 loss to the Nationals. But he also allowed quite a few hard-hit balls, including two fifth-inning home runs (by Ian Desmond and pitcher Gio Gonzalez) that gave the Nationals the lead.
"I've never seen Bartolo pitch up [in the zone] so much," Collins said.