Nats storm back to win, then release Dickerson and option García

As he stepped to the plate in the bottom of the ninth, the bases loaded with teammates, the tying run on third, the winning run on second, Alex Call visualized what he hoped would happen next.

"Line drive to right-center," the Nationals center fielder said with a laugh. "But we won, so that's all that matters."

Yes, they did. By a 3-2 margin over the Brewers thanks to a furious rally in the bottom of the ninth against All-Star closer Devin Williams. The details of how they pulled that off are inconsequential, right?

"You know what exit velo is to me?" manager Davey Martinez asked as he walked into the press conference room at Nationals Park. "A hit. A hit is a hit."

Fair enough. Though for the record, the Nationals recorded only one actual hit during their game-winning rally. That was Dominic Smith's jam-shot, opposite-field single, which departed his bat with a velocity of a whopping 69.9 mph.

The game-winner left Call's bat at 76.1 mph. It traveled all of five feet before it struck the ground and made a beeline toward Brewers third baseman Andruw Monasterio, who picked it up and fired to the plate for what should have been at least a force out of the lead runner and perhaps the start of a 5-2-3 double play that would've put a severe dent in the Nats' comeback plans.

"What I thought was: Ground ball to third, he's going to throw it home," Call said. "I better get my butt going to first so it's not a double play. Then I heard the crowd go crazy, and I was like: Something good must be happening. Turned around and saw Vargas score. It was awesome."

As Call ran as hard as he could down the first base line, chaos was unfolding behind him. Monasterio's throw to the plate was wide, deflecting off catcher William Contreras' mitt and making its way to the backstop, nearly falling into the camera well beside the Nats dugout. Corey Dickerson, who led off the inning with a sharp ground ball that slipped through first baseman Carlos Santana's legs, crossed the plate with the tying run. And right behind him was Ildemaro Vargas.

Vargas, who had just been inserted at second base as a pinch-runner for Smith, never broke stride around third and managed to slide across the plate just before Contreras' throw to Williams, who had run in to cover in his absence.

"When I saw the ball get by Contreras, it seemed like he tripped a little bit," Vargas said, via interpreter Octavio Martinez. "I anticipated, and I felt like at that point, I was definitely going to have a chance to make it. Luckily, I did."

That's how the Nationals stormed back to win a game in which they totaled five hits and four walks. They somehow pushed across the tying and winning runs in the bottom of the ninth on two errors, an opposite-field single and a walk (drawn by Keibert Ruiz) against one of the toughest closers in baseball in Williams.

"We were trying to force him to get the ball up," Martinez said. "He's got good stuff. The guy's an All-Star. So we were trying to get the ball up. And they did a great job of trying to do that. ... Granted, we didn't hit the ball very hard. But we put the ball in play."

The Nationals have now won four consecutive home series and eight of their last 13 games. And moments after celebrating this walk-off win, they announced a couple of major roster moves: They requested unconditional release waivers on Dickerson (who in spite of his role in today's rally had struggled mightily all year) and optioned slumping second baseman Luis Garcia to Triple-A Rochester.

Dickerson, signed last winter for $2.25 million, wound up hitting just .250 with seven doubles, two homers, 17 RBIs and a .637 OPS in 50 games. Garcia, the team's starting second baseman since Opening Day, gets demoted after a July slump brought his season totals down to a .259 average, .293 on-base percentage, six homers, 42 RBIs and a .655 OPS in 100 games played.

Those moves, which were announced after reporters had already left the clubhouse following postgame interviews, could have significant ramifications for this rebuilding organization. The Nats will need to add another outfielder and another infielder before Friday's series opener in Cincinnati, and there are some intriguing young names waiting in Rochester and Harrisburg to make their major league debuts.

It all made for a wild finish to what had been shaping up to be a sleepy day and a ho-hum performance on the field for eight innings. The first four innings of this game flew by, completed in less than an hour as both starters worked fast and got quick outs despite each surrendering one run.

MacKenzie Gore allowed only one of the first 14 batters he faced to reach base. Alas, Tyrone Taylor reached all four bases on his solo homer in the top of the second, blasting a high fastball to left for a 1-0 Milwaukee lead. The Nationals had a few more baserunners against Wade Miley but only converted once against the veteran lefty: Jake Alu’s RBI single in the third to score Call, who led off with a double.

They squandered a golden opportunity to take the lead in the fourth, an inning that saw Miley suddenly lose command and issue back-to-back walks to load the bases with two outs. But he managed to strike out an aggressively swinging Call on his 34th pitch of the inning, stranding the bases loaded but ending his return from an elbow injury after only four innings.

"It stinks when you look back on it," Call said. "But in the moment, you're just focused on doing your job. You want to help the team in any way. I take pride in my at-bats. I take pride in being a tough out. And unfortunately, it got me."

With no margin for error, Gore put up another zero in the fifth but then finally ran into trouble in the sixth. Even if most of it wasn’t his fault.

A leadoff walk of Brice Turang didn’t help, but an infield single by Joey Wiemer and an RBI double by Christian Yelich – who somehow fought off a tough inside pitch and barely got the ball to land in fair territory near third base – must’ve left Gore feeling snakebit.

Now trailing by a run, the young lefty faced his first real test of the afternoon. And though he would depart with his team trailing by that one run, he kept it to that one run with his best sequence of the day, arguably one of his best of the season.

With runners on second and third and nobody out, Gore went to work. He struck out Contreras on a fastball. He struck out Santana on a fastball. He struck out Willy Adames on a fastball, pumping his fist in celebration as he overpowered the heart of the Brewers lineup to escape that jam without suffering any more damage.

Sure, the Nationals would’ve loved for Gore to be rewarded for his efforts with his seventh win of the season. But in the end, the young lefty happily gave up his personal win for a wild team win.

"That was great," Gore said. "That was big for us today. And I can't say enough good things about this group in here. Down going into the ninth inning, and then coming back to win against a really arm. Big win for us."