Nats ride seven-run 10th to take series from Mariners (updated)

SEATTLE – MacKenzie Gore did his job, churning out six scoreless innings and escaping an emotional bases-loaded jam to end his night. And James Wood did his job, delivering the clutch hit off a lefty that gave the Nationals a two-run lead to put Gore in line for the win.

For the Nats to emerge victorious at T-Mobile Park and pull off an impressive road series win over a good Mariners club, though, several others were going to have to do their job before night’s end.

By the time the Nationals gathered at the center of the diamond to celebrate at the end of the 10th inning, there were no shortage of teammates to congratulate, from Jose A. Ferrer to Daylen Lile to Nathaniel Lowe to Luis García Jr. to Josh Bell, whose titanic blast to right capped off a stunning seven-run rally that lifted the visitors to a 9-3 win that turned from a taut pitchers’ duel into a wild extra-inning rout.

It may have required some extra work late at night, not to mention the first seven-run rally in extra innings in club history, but the Nationals left Seattle with back-to-back wins over a first-place opponent and now head to Arizona having won eight of 11, thanks to some offensive fireworks at the end of a captivating ballgame.

"Starters are keeping us in games," Bell said. "And when our offense clicks, we can put five, six, seven runs across the board at any given moment."

Up 2-0 after six thanks to Gore’s latest electric outing and Wood’s latest big hit, the Nationals watched as setup man Jorge López gave both runs back during a chaotic bottom of the seventh. Then they watched as rookie Cole Henry got into a jam in the bottom of the eighth, only to watch as Ferrer got out of the jam to send this one into the ninth still tied.

The Nats couldn’t do anything against Mariners closer Andrés Muñoz (who has yet to surrender an earned run this season), so Ferrer re-took the mound to open the bottom of the ninth and recorded three more big outs to send this one to extra innings.

"They were jacked up when Ferrer came in the game and got those big outs for us," manager Davey Martinez said. "We just had to keep pushing. And like I've said before: These guys don't quit. They play hard. They're relentless. And I love it."

Sure enough, the visitors seized control for good after that.

Lile’s sacrifice fly to the base of the wall in right, good for the rookie’s first career RBI, accounted for the official game-winning run, but there was so much more still to come. CJ Abrams followed with a double off the wall and then scored shortly after that when Lowe singled to left off Collin Snider to pad the lead.

"After that sac fly, I knew the guys were going to do what they needed to do," Lile said. "That inning was just awesome as a team overall."

And they weren’t close to done. García ripped a two-run double off the wall in nearly the exact same spot. Then Bell completed the best 48 hours of his season with a towering, three-run homer to right, his second homer in as many games to go along with three singles and several other line drive outs.

"I was in a dark place there for a few weeks," said Bell, whose OPS fell as low as .497 earlier this month. "But that's the game. I had a good, long conversation with (hitting coach Darnell Coles) like a week and a half ago. He sat me down and said: 'Stop moving your head too much and get back to who you are. Put as many balls in play as possible, and let the power take care of itself.' I finally feel like I'm back to who I am. Hopefully I can continue to press forward."

Just like that, a 2-2 game was a 9-2 game, affording Kyle Finnegan a chance to pitch a low-stress bottom of the 10th in his first appearance in a week. Finnegan, who had been sidelined with shoulder fatigue, did allow the automatic runner to score, but he buckled down after that to finish it off and make sure Gore’s earlier efforts weren’t totally wasted.

If there was any reason to worry he would still be impacted by the line drive he took off his upper left leg in his last start, Gore put that to rest when he took the mound tonight and immediately looked like the best version of himself. The lefty got through the first inning on 15 pitches, stranding Cal Raleigh at third after the Seattle catcher singled and made it to third on a stolen base attempt that included a wild throw by Keibert Ruiz.

That would be the game’s only runner to reach scoring position through five innings, a credit to both starters but especially Gore, who was consistently around the strike zone and made the Mariners earn what little offense they got.

He did not issue a walk, and the only other hit he surrendered through five (Leody Taveras’ third inning single) was immediately wiped out on a much better throw by Ruiz to second.

The real challenge, though, came in the sixth, when Gore faced his only true test of the evening and saved his best for last. Back-to-back groundball singles up the middle put him in a jam and brought the top of the Mariners order up to bat for the third time. No problem.

"I do understand if that one run scores from third, then we're OK," he said. "But you don't want people to score. It's 2-0. It's a really close game. You also understand at that point, one swing of the bat can take the lead. So you don't want to look too far ahead."

With some help from plate umpire Andy Fletcher, who made an admittedly terrible call on an 0-2 pitch well outside the zone to J.P. Crawford that led to the shortstop’s ejection, Gore navigated his way out of the jam. He struck out Julio Rodríguez on a cutter. Then after narrowly grazing Raleigh with a pitch on the knee, he faced Randy Arozarena with the bases loaded and two out.

Gore fell behind 2-0, battled back with two straight fastballs to even the count, then had to decide what to do with his 2-2 pitch to a dangerous power hitter. He had been spiking his curveball the entire inning, making the risk of a run-scoring wild pitch significant. So he went with yet another fastball, and proceeded to blow it by Arozarena much to the dismay of the crowd and the delight of the visitors dugout.

Gore pumped his fist, unleashed a celebratory yell and walked off the field having thrown six scoreless innings to lower his ERA to 3.16 thanks his major league-leading 101st strikeout.

"I showed a little emotion," the stoic lefty said. "It doesn't always happen. But it just felt like a big pitch."

That whole sequence came shortly after his teammates had supplied him with a 2-0 lead. Or, more specifically, after Wood supplied him with a 2-0 lead on one clutch swing. Stymied by Seattle starter Emerson Hancock, who needed only 50 pitches to complete five scoreless innings, the Nationals finally showed enough patience to draw two walks and bring Wood to the plate.

Hancock’s pitch count was only 65, but manager Dan Wilson decided it was time to summon the only lefty in his bullpen (Gabe Speier) to face the Nats’ best hitter. And the Nats’ best hitter showed once again why he’s one of the sport’s best hitters, with Wood going the other way on Speier’s first-pitch sinker and doubling down the left field line to bring two runs home.

"He had a plan, exactly what he was going to do," Martinez said. "He really wanted to stay inside the baseball. He did a great job."

That two-run lead, though, was too much for the bullpen to hold. When López entered for the seventh in relief of Gore, the veteran right-hander made a mess of things. He issued a leadoff walk, got into an argument with Fletcher over another bad call, nearly got out of the inning but surrendered a two-out RBI single to Taveras, who then stole second and took third on a wild pitch to the backstop, allowing him to score on Ben Williamson’s RBI single.

"It definitely affected him," Martinez said of López's emotional outburst. "We were hoping he finished that inning, but I could see when he gave that hit up, he had a little different demeanor on him."

Frustrating as that sequence was, the Nationals would still find themselves celebrating at the end of a long night.