Nats halt seven-game skid in finale, but it wasn't easy

MILWAUKEE - Ending a seven-game losing streak proved just as daunting a task for the Nationals as the difficult path that saddled them with a season-worst skid in the first place. But a 3-2 win over the Brewers on Sunday assured the Nationals of going home for a key series against the Mets with some positive vibes on their side.

But to get there, the Nationals had to turn to an emergency starting pitcher who cut short a Saturday bullpen session at 38 pitches when he found out he'd be needed in the series finale; weather six shutout innings before getting two homers from part-time players; and survive a ninth inning that saw left fielder Jayson Werth lose a ball in the sun that went for a triple, then haul in the game's last out in short left field on another catch made tricky by the shining orb.

"We needed it," said reliever Shawn Kelley, who got the final four outs to notch his third save. "No matter how we had to get it, we needed to get out of here with something positive. Get a win, get the heck off this road trip, go back home and start winning some games there."

The Nats didn't buckle under in the ninth when pinch-hitter Martin Maldonado homered to left to make it a 3-2 game, or when Jonathan Villar, the next hitter, lofted a fly ball that Werth lost in the sun. Villar raced to third for a gift triple, and Kelley induced a short pop to left that Werth got to and squeezed like it was a long-lost relative.

It would have been a cruel twist of fate for Villar's ball to have gone for an inside-the-park homer. Kelley was on the mound Wednesday night in Los Angeles when center fielder Michael A. Taylor overran a single to center from the Dodgers' Yasiel Puig, turning the hit into a walk-off three-base error. This time, however, Kelley got the final out and the Nats halted their longest losing streak since an eight-game bender in 2009, ending a 10-game road trek with a 3-7 mark.

"That's the biggest getaway victory we've had this year, and it wasn't easy," manager Dusty Baker said.

Tanner Roark, who was 38 pitches into his regular bullpen session on Saturday when he found out Stephen Strasburg would be scratched, gutted out seven innings, scattering seven hits, walking one and striking out seven in a yeomanlike 95-pitch outing.

"Warmup pitches kind of stunk, but once I'd get out there and get it loose, it felt fine. I felt good," said Roark. "Everything still felt great throughout the whole, entire game."

But the Nationals had nothing to show for Roark's efforts through five innings, as righty Jimmy Nelson limited them to one hit, a second-inning infield single by Ben Revere that was originally ruled an error and changed only after Nelson had departed following 95 pitches and five walks.

Catcher Jose Lobaton said Roark prospered because he didn't extend at-bats and he minimized pitches. Roark was especially economical late, needing only 10 pitches in each of the sixth and seventh innings.

"Dusty talked to me about that," Lobaton said. "He said you got to make sure that Tanner (got) quick outs because he threw a bullpen. I talked to (Roark) this morning and he said he was feeling good enough to go at least 90 pitches. And the way he threw today, he did it. He did what he was supposed to do. ... Unbelievable. He's a guy you really want to see (because) he likes to fight."

Added Kelley: "It was awesome. Pretty heroic, from my point of view. ... For (Roark) to take the ball and go out there and continue to mow them down and give us a chance to get runs and keep us in the game, that's what we needed today. We needed something special from somebody. We got a lot of good things today."

But the game was scoreless into the seventh when the most unlikely power source, Lobaton, took Jacob Barnes to the opposite field for his first homer of the season. An inning later, backup first baseman Clint Robinson came through with a two-run homer to right after Anthony Rendon worked a two-out walk from Michael Blazek. Last season, Miller Park was the site of Robinson's first major league homer after spending most of eight seasons in the minors. Suddenly a 0-0 game turned into a 3-0 Nationals lead.

"I don't really care about homers, I care more about wins," said Lobaton, who notched the Nats' 100th homer of the season in their 76th game, the fastest they've ever hit that milestone. "It was a really good win today."

Baker needed to use three relievers to get through the eighth inning, when the Brewers scored on Ryan Braun's one-out triple to right and a two-out RBI single by Chris Carter. Then came the ninth inning when the sun almost ruined everything the Nats had worked for.

"It's good morale going back home," said Roark. "You can't worry about it. You just got to have faith and trust that our hitters and bullpen will shut it down. You just got to trust. We're a family and you have to trust in each and every person in here."