In one of the games in a recent series which saw the Nationals sweep the Phillies, Washington pitcher Stephen Strasburg managed to hit three people with a single pitch: the batter, catcher and umpire -- all in sequence.

Strasburg, who normally has pretty good stuff -- including decent pitch command and control -- was facing the batter, Jorge Alfaro. His pitch nicked Alfaro on the elbow, and then managed to bounce off the helmet of catcher Matt Wieters; the ball then proceeded to directly nail the umpire's face mask.

Try to do this intentionally and see how long it takes.

Pretty neat hat trick.

Here's a good slow-motion look at it on The Sports Daily.

As the excitement surrounding potential tie-breaker games, wild-card contests and subsequent playoffs comes to a boil, we can look forward to many more interesting and entertaining moments.

But unfortunately for Strasburg and the Nationals, they won't be a part of it.