SAN FRANCISCO – When Cole Henry loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the eighth Saturday afternoon, Miguel Cairo could have stuck with his rookie setup man and given him a chance to pitch his way out of the jam. The Nationals led by three runs. There was at least some margin for error.
Cairo, though, didn’t hesitate to walk straight to the mound and hold his left arm out, signaling toward the bullpen in right-center. He wanted the lefty. He wanted Jose A. Ferrer, even if he was now asking his newly anointed closer to produce a five-out save before ever recording a simple three-out one.
“I was just like: I’ve got to worry about today. I cannot worry about tomorrow,” the interim manager said. “That was the best matchup. Their good hitters were coming up. I’ll just take my chances with him.”
Ferrer proceeded to reward his manager’s faith in him and make his first save since replacing Kyle Finnegan a memorable one. He allowed one of the three inherited runners to score via Wilmer Flores’ sacrifice fly. But he struck out Matt Chapman with a 99 mph fastball to end the eighth. Then he pitched out of another jam in the ninth, inducing a game-ending double play out of Patrick Bailey to lock up the Nats’ 4-2 win.
It had been nine days since the Nationals dealt Finnegan to the Tigers at the trade deadline, eight days since Cairo coyly refused to name his new closer, noting the world would find out once he was in a situation to use him.
Except the Nats weren’t ever in that situation. They lost four straight coming out of the trade deadline. Ferrer did pitch the top of the ninth in a tie game at home Wednesday, a role typically reserved for closers, but it still wasn’t a save situation. The stars finally aligned Saturday, and the 25-year-old finally got to come through for his team.
“It feels really good. I’m really excited about this opportunity,” Ferrer said, via interpreter Mauricio Ortiz. “I just want to thank them for putting me in this position to be the closer of the team. It’s a huge responsibility, because you come in to close the game and your teammates played really hard the whole game. You just want to come out, get those three outs and get the win.”
It wasn’t exactly a cakewalk. There was the bases-loaded jam to escape in the eighth. And then Ferrer allowed two singles (one of them never leaving the infield) in the ninth, bringing Bailey to the plate representing the winning run with one out as the Oracle Park crowd stood and roared. Ferrer, who at times in his three-year career has struggled to get himself out of self-made jams, dug deep this time and induced the grounder to third that Brady House, Paul DeJong and Nathaniel Lowe turned into the game-ending 5-4-3 double play.
“I was kind of scared,” Ferrer said with a laugh. “When you see the replay, you can see that the ball was bouncing in different directions, and you can even see Brady going side to side trying to follow the ball. But he was able to get the double play and get the win.”
This new assignment didn’t come out of thin air. The Nationals have long viewed Ferrer, with his triple-digit fastball and devastating changeup, as a potential future closer. They groomed him for the role as much as possible. And now that he’s ascended to the position, they’re confident in his ability to thrive.
“He is a true competitor,” said teammate Brad Lord, who spent much of the season in the bullpen before recently joining the rotation. “He’s got great stuff. And seeing him being able to perform in these situations, it means a lot to all of us. He’s a great person, through and through. We’re all excited for him to get this opportunity.”
And the man who finally got to name his closer, albeit a week later than he would have preferred, has no intention of making any more changes.
“That’s my ninth inning guy,” Cairo said, beaming like a proud father. “And he did his job.”