It would’ve been a bit too easy had the Nationals simply closed out tonight’s game without any bullpen drama. So they decided to make their fifth consecutive win a bit more exciting.
Despite Kyle Finnegan’s blown save in the top of the ninth – one made possible by a José Tena fielding error – the Nats came back to walk off the Braves on Amed Rosario’s sharp single to left in the bottom of the 10th.
With Robert Hassell III (making his major league debut) the automatic runner to begin the inning, Alex Call put down a perfect sacrifice bunt to put the rookie 90 feet away. Rosario (making his first appearance since suffering a nasty cut near his left knee six days ago that required stitches) turned on a 1-1 changeup from left-hander Dylan Lee and ripped a single to left, allowing Hassell to race home with the winning run to cap a memorable debut.
Finnegan took the mound with a one-run lead in hand, hoping to finish off what was shaping up to be an impressive bullpen effort that already included 4 1/3 innings of one-run (unearned) ball. The Nats' closer did get himself into trouble with a leadoff single, but after inducing a popout, he got Austin Riley to hit a sharp grounder to third for what could’ve been a game-ending, 5-4-3 double play. Alas, Tena couldn’t get a handle on the ball, leaving everybody safe and prolonging the game.
And moments later, Matt Olson ripped a double to the wall in right-center, plating the tying run and ensuring Finnegan’s third blown save in 18 opportunities. The Nationals did nail the trailing runner at the plate thanks to a nice relay from Alex Call to Luis García Jr. to Keibert Ruiz, at least keeping the game tied.
It remained that way into the 10th, with Jackson Rutledge stranding the go-ahead run on third thanks to an inning-ending double play that set the stage for a walk-off in the bottom of the frame.
Some three hours earlier, the Nationals once again got a bunch of early offense. With five quick runs off AJ Smith-Shawver, a lineup that went eight games without producing more than two runs against any opposing starter has now scored at least four runs against one in four consecutive games.
Production came from nearly every spot in the batting order. James Wood cleared the bases with a three-run double. CJ Abrams drove in a run moments earlier with a single to center. Ruiz doubled, singled and drove in two runs, all while his parents – watching their son play a major league game in person for the first time – celebrated in the stands.
Also celebrating in the stands was the family of Hassell, who made the most of his major league debut with two hits and a stolen base, including a sharp single to right on the very first pitch he saw at the sport’s highest level.
As encouraging as the continued early offense was, the latest in a string of subpar starts by Trevor Williams was just as discouraging. The veteran right-hander entered with a 5.91 ERA and he departed with a 6.39 ERA, failing to complete four innings for the first time this season.
Williams, who gave up four runs in 4 1/3 innings to the same Braves lineup last week at Truist Park, immediately put his team in a 2-0 hole thanks to back-to-back homers by Olson and Marcell Ozuna in the top of the first. He managed to briefly settle down but then hit a wall in the top of the fourth that lasted so long, he couldn’t finish it.
Williams faced seven batters that inning, retiring only two. He allowed two singles. More troubling, he issued three walks, the last of which brought Davey Martinez out of the dugout and signaling for Brad Lord, even though the bases were loaded and Atlanta leadoff hitter Alex Verdugo was coming up.
Lord would proceed to walk Verdugo, forcing in an inherited run and leaving Williams to be charged with five of them in only 3 2/3 innings. It might’ve been worse, but the rookie rebounded to strike out Riley with the bases still loaded.
That laborious top of the fourth turned a 5-2 Nats lead into a 5-5 ballgame. It didn’t stay that way long.
Having already put a hurting on Smith-Shawver through the first two innings, the Nationals kept the pressure on in the bottom of the fourth, with Abrams drawing a leadoff walk and Wood getting into a subsequent 2-0 count. That apparently was as much as Brian Snitker could bear to watch, because the Braves manager made the rare mid-at-bat stroll to the mound to make a pitching change, the ultimate indignity for Smith-Shawver.
Two batters later, Ruiz would line an 0-2 fastball from Aaron Bummer up the middle to drive in his third run of the night. And when García ran hard down the line to prevent a double play, another run scored to extend the Nationals’ lead to 7-5.
It was now up to the bullpen to put together another lengthy, quality outing in an attempt to close out the win. And though that group technically didn’t allow an earned run in regulation, the two unearned runs that crossed the plate (one in the seventh, one in the ninth) prevented this from being a simple victory for the home team.