After a crazy ninth in Oakland, Nats are "just glad that we won"

OAKLAND, Calif. - This was going to be Tanner Roark's day, the latest in a string of dominant starts by the right-hander, who has turned his season around in the process.

Then this was going to be Ryan Zimmerman's day, the latest in a string of clutch hits by the slugger, whose three-run homer off Ryan Madson in the top of the eighth inning got Roark off the hook and gave the Nationals a late lead over the Athletics.

But these are the Nationals, after all, and games almost always seem to come down to the ninth inning. And so the story of today's game is a final frame that featured all kinds of twists and turns, 11 combined runs scored by the two teams and ultimately one of the strangest saves you'll ever find in a big league game.

Thus, what had been a 1-0 game after five innings and a 6-4 game after eight innings wound up an 11-10 Nationals victory. Just another Sunday afternoon at the ballpark, right?

"Baseball's a crazy sport," Zimmerman said. "Things like that happen. At the end of the day, it's still a win. But I've seen crazier things happen."

One more big hit by the A's in the bottom of the ninth, and Zimmerman's assertion would perhaps have to be challenged. That's how close Oakland came to a staggering comeback.

First, though, let's go back to how the Nationals put themselves in what appeared to be comfortable position to win this game, win this series and depart the Bay Area having gone 5-1 over the last week.

A three-run rally in the top of the sixth had put the Nats ahead 3-1 and put Roark in a position not only to win but to perhaps, given his low pitch count, even go the distance. But then Khris Davis hit a hanging curveball from Roark off the left field foul pole in the bottom of the seventh, and now this was a tie game.

Never fear, though, because Zimmerman came to the rescue with his latest big blast, this one off a familiar foe he hadn't seen in a while.

With two on and one out in the eighth, Zimmerman came up to bat against Madson, the veteran reliever who used be a key member of the Phillies' pennant-contending bullpens but has been pitching in the American League since recovering from arm injuries.

Zimmerman used to face Madson all the time, with 24 prior plate appearances. The last of those, however, hadn't come since August 19, 2011. The good news: on that night, Zimmerman launched a walk-off grand slam against Madson.

"He's not a comfortable at-bat for a righty," Zimmerman said. "Obviously his numbers are great this year, and he does a really good job of running that fastball in there."

The key to the at-bat, though, may have come before Zimmerman ever made contact. When Trea Turner and Bryce Harper bolted from their respective bases to pull off a double steal, it transformed the entire complexion of the situation.

"To have both of them move up, it changes the whole at-bat for me," Zimmerman said. "Now I just try and get something in the air. And if it's basically anywhere out of the infield, Trea's gonna score. So that makes it easier for me to approach that at-bat. I just had to do the best I could to lay off that sinker in. He left a changeup over the plate. I was just trying to hit a ball in the air and honestly just get a sac fly."

Zimmerman did far more than that. He tagged that changeup deep to left, clearing the fence for a three-run homer, his 16th of the season. The 32-year-old, who has now surpassed last season's home run total in slightly more than two months, pumped his fist as he began his jog around the bases, having just given the Nationals a 6-3 lead.

"It's amazing," reliever Shawn Kelley said. "You think the first few weeks: All right, he's coming out hot. And then it's like a month. Then it's like: Golly, if he does this all year, that's going to be fun to watch. It's amazing."

The storyline of the day might have ended right there, except Roark got into trouble in the eighth, and Dusty Baker had to summon Koda Glover to pitch out of a jam. He did that, with an assist from Adam Lind, whose diving stop at first base led to the final out of the eighth with the Nationals still ahead 6-4.

And when the Nats produced a five-run barrage in the top of the ninth that included back-to-back homers from Matt Wieters and Michael A. Taylor, everybody could breathe a sigh of relief knowing their sudden 11-4 lead was comfortable.

Except, it wasn't.

After a long layoff, Glover returned to the mound for the ninth. Technically, this remained a save situation because he entered with a two-run lead the previous inning. But the feeling of pitching the ninth inning with a seven-run lead doesn't much compare to pitching with a two-run lead.

"Probably you're wondering why I didn't take Koda out," Baker said. "It's because that's the American League. Any games I've seen with big comebacks, most of the time it's the American League. They continue to hit, and these guys can hit. They hit the ball out of the ballpark. You never know which run is the run that wins the game. You seemingly think you've got the game in the bag, but you never do."

Baker unfortunately knew what he was talking about. Glover proceeded to allow four straight singles, then walked in a run. And just like that, it was an 11-6 game, with Baker walking to the mound and summoning Kelley to take over.

"That can't happen; (it's) on me," Glover said. "I went out that second inning, tried to stay focused, broke a couple bats. And that's how this game is. That's why this game sucks. It is what it is. I tried to get through it, couldn't do it. And Shawn came in and closed the door."

Well, technically Kelley did. But not before the score of the game drastically changed. After getting one quick out, Kelley proceeded to serve up a grand slam to Matt Joyce. That 11-6 lead was now 11-10.

"I hate it," Kelley said. "In retrospect, it doesn't mean anything. I hate it as a reliever (when) you give up other people's runs. I don't care about the one that I give up. But it happened. And the fact it's a one-run game and they've kind of killed their momentum, too."

How did Kelley try to regroup at that point?

"Two more outs, and get out of here: That's what I told myself," he said. "And Wieters came out and said: 'Hey, their rally's over now. Let's get these two guys out and get out of here."

Which they did. Kelley induced a groundball and a popup, and so the game was over. It was an 11-10 victory, and Kelley joined an odd list of relievers who have given up a grand slam and yet still been credited with a save (because he entered with the tying run on-deck). The Tigers' Francisco Rodríguez did it earlier this year, but prior to that it had not happened since 2007.

All of those are footnotes, of course, to what began as a typical Sunday afternoon at the park but then turned into something far stranger.

Final score: 11-10. If only it was that simple.

"I'm just glad that we won the game," Baker said, summing up everyone's feelings inside an exhausted Nationals clubhouse.