Bullpen closes out much-needed Nats win (updated)

Kyle Finnegan said he couldn’t wait to get back on the mound tonight and erase the sting of Friday night’s disastrous ninth inning. The Nationals closer got his wish. And made the most of the opportunity.

Handed a two-run lead in the top of the ninth, Finnegan shut down the Padres and finished off a 4-2 victory before a boisterous Saturday night crowd of 31,136 that waited out a 1-hour, 5-minute rain delay and was rewarded for its patience with a much-needed victory by the home team.

Finnegan needed it as much as anyone. The slumping closer entered with a 4.37 ERA and zero saves (with three blown saves) since June 6. He avoided any drama this time, retiring the side and giving his teammates a chance to celebrate at the center of the diamond.

"Any pitcher will tell you: After a bad one, you don't want to stew on it for too long. You want to get back out there and put it behind you," Finnegan said. "So I was excited for the opportunity to do that tonight. Happy that they had the faith in me to go back out there and get the last three outs."

"I told him right now: It doesn't matter who's coming up to hit, you're my closer," interim manager Miguel Cairo said. "Go out there and just do your job. And he did it today."

Behind six solid innings from Mitchell Parker and multiple rallies that plated four total runs, the Nationals carried a two-run lead into the seventh inning, then turned to their bullpen to try to finish it off.

Cairo, who used seven relievers during Friday’s loss, entrusted the seventh to recently acquired veteran Luis Garcia, who induced a big double play en route to a zero on the scoreboard. Garcia returned to face one batter in the eighth, but when he walked Fernando Tatis Jr., the onus was now on Jose A. Ferrer to navigate the rest of the inning.

It nearly fell apart thanks to another defensive gaffe from a Nats club that continues to kill itself with such mistakes. Drew Millas’ wild throw turned Luis Arraez’s sacrifice bunt attempt into a two-base error, putting the tying runner in scoring position with nobody out. Ferrer, though, responded by striking out Manny Machado with a changeup before making a nifty defensive play of his own.

When Ferrer lunged to grab Gavin Sheets’ comebacker to his left and threw to the plate, the Nationals seemed to have an easy out. Except Tatis managed to get himself into a rundown and initially was ruled safe diving back into the bag by eluding Millas’ tag, at least in the view of third base umpire Laz Diaz. The young catcher seemed confident he had actually tagged Tatis, and after a brief replay review, his confidence was rewarded and the Nats had averted potential disaster.

"It was so weird, because I knew I tagged him," Millas said. "I got him out, and I moved on. I knew he was out by a long shot."

"We asked to see what was going on, and he said he was 100 percent (sure)," Cairo said. "So I was like: Thank god. Finally, one went our way."

It’s been an up-and-down season for Parker, with more downs than ups in recent weeks. But sprinkled in there was a quality start in San Diego last month, accounting for his last win. And he picked up where he left off tonight, holding that potent lineup in check despite some early loud contact.

There were four fly balls to center field in the first two innings alone, two of them reaching the warning track. But all were caught by Jacob Young. He wasn’t so fortunate in the top of the third when Martin Maldonado lashed a ball to the wall in deep left-center, with Parker slamming into said wall, unable to make what would’ve been a spectacular catch. That double brought home the Padres’ first run. A subsequent two-out RBI single by Luis Arraez brought home another run.

That’s all Parker would allow, though. He danced with the devil one more time in the top of the fifth, loading the bases with two outs. With Machado (whose grand slam off Finnegan capped a ninth-inning rally Friday night) at the plate, Parker was teetering on the edge. But he dug deep and struck out the star slugger with back-to-back sliders: a pitch he had only thrown 15 times to right-handed hitters entering tonight.

"That's the turning point of the game," the lefty said. "If we don't get the out there, the game can go a thousand different directions."

Parker returned to the mound for the sixth and retired the side, and thus did he depart having recorded his second quality start in a month against the Padres. And he once again departed in line for the win.

The Nationals made plenty of quality contact early on against Yu Darvish, including a string of five consecutive well-struck balls in play to open the bottom of the second. The first two were merely loud outs. The next three landed for hits, with Brady House singling to left, Daylen Lile doubling to right and Millas driving both teammates in with a line drive single to center for a 2-0 lead.

The go-ahead run would come three innings later, the contact not nearly as ferocious yet somehow still effective. After Lile drew a leadoff walk and took second on Millas’ grounder, Jacob Young singled to center to put runners on the corners. And when CJ Abrams dribbled a grounder to the right side, it was enough to bring Lile home and give the Nats a 3-2 lead.

And when Nathaniel Lowe went deep to center off reliever Yuki Matsui – only his second homer off a lefty this season, compared to 13 off righties – in the bottom of the sixth, that lead was extended to two runs, enough cushion on this night for the Nationals bullpen.

"We battled," Cairo said of his team's offensive approach throughout the game. "Millas got a big base hit with men on base. Finally, we got good hits, and finally we got hits with men on base. And that homer by Nate, that was beautiful."