After the national anthem was performed in Wednesday afternoon’s game between the Washington Nationals and Colorado Rockies, players on both sides retreated back into the dugout — all except for Nats reliever Aaron Barrett and Rockies outfielder Brandon Barnes. They stayed rooted in place, caps over heart and staring straight ahead, as if the performer hadn’t stopped at “home of the brave” and kept plowing through all four original verses of Francis Scott Key’s song. They were in a good old-fashioned standoff. First one to break the pose loses.

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The two brave souls stood tall in the 90-degree heat. Seconds turned to minutes. Barrett was offered water by a bench coach, Barnes received a massage from the dugout. Neither broke their pose as the Rockies jogged onto the field for the top of the first or when Jorge De La Rosa finished his warmup pitches.

When it became clear that the standoff couldn’t be resolved peacefully, Barnes offered a rock-scissors-paper game. Barrett declined. Perhaps Barnes realized he was at a disadvantage, given how deep he was on the field.

Nats leadoff hitter Denard Span stepped into the box. How long could this go on? When would the human statues have to break their post?

Pretty quickly, actually. Before De La Rosa could throw a pitch, the home plate umpire noticed the contest. The ump told Span to step out of the box and quickly gave a “cut it out” whistle to Barnes. The Rockies player pleaded his case, trying to show the ump that Barrett was on the field too.

His argument fell unheeded. Barnes was forced to retreat, giving the victory to Barrett. His Nationals teammates celebrated like he’d just thrown a 1-2-3 inning.

That should count at least a half-game in the standings.