Soto's clutch hit finally lifts Nats in do-or-die game (updated)

One of these years, the Nationals had to catch a break in a winner-take-all game on South Capitol Street, right?

They had suffered too much heartache, too many crazy moments that all went against them with their season on the line in October. Just once, it had to go the other way, right?

It did. Finally. And because of it, they will get to keep playing in 2019.

Down two runs to the Brewers with two outs in the bottom of the eighth of tonight's National League wild card game, the Nationals staged the latest in a season full of late rallies. They loaded the bases for Juan Soto, and then the 20-year-old ripped a hit off fearsome left-hander Josh Hader that somehow brought all three runs home and propelled the Nationals to a thrilling, 4-3 victory.

"This team just keeps fighting," said Max Scherzer, who it turns out needed his teammates to keep fighting to make this win possible. "I love this team. This team grinds. We've got a winning ballclub."

Soto's clutch hit off Hader, a solid single to right, should have only tied the game at 3-3. But when Trent Grisham let the ball get past him, Anthony Rendon was able to come all the way around from first base to score the go-ahead run that ignited the loudest roar in the history of this ballpark.

It took another bit of good fortune for the Nationals to get the rally started in the first place. Michael A. Taylor reached when Hader's 3-2 pitch struck him on the hand, but the Brewers argued the ball struck the knob of his bat first and actually landed in fair territory, with catcher Yasmani Grandal running down the line to tag Taylor out. Replay officials in New York, though, upheld the original call, and the Nats caught themselves the kind of break they've never caught before in October.

"The ball was initially left in play on the field," Major League Baseball said in a statement released after the game. "After a crew consultation, the crew ruled the play a hit-by-pitch. After review, the Replay Official did not see clear and convincing evidence to overturn the call."

A broken-bat single by Ryan Zimmerman kept the pressure on Hader. And when the Milwaukee closer walked Rendon on a full count, the bases were now loaded for Soto.

Soto has perhaps never faced a lefty as tough as Hader, but the kid has shown a propensity for delivering against southpaws since the day he debuted last year. And sure enough, he stayed calm enough to get on top of a high 1-1 fastball and line a single to right, turning this game on its head.

"To me, I just step in there, I know he's in trouble," Soto said. "He's going to try to attack me with his fastball up, and the slider. I mean, I just step in there and try to hit the ball and single (up) the middle. That's all I think in that at-bat."

At worst, the Nationals had just tied the game, with Taylor and Andrew Stevenson (who pinch-ran for Zimmerman) scoring easily. But when Grisham misplayed the ball in right field, the crowd exploded and Rendon came racing around the bases to score all the way from first and give his team a lead for the first time all night.

"I think the entire stadium was waving him in," third base coach Bob Henley said.

And when the Nationals needed a scoreless ninth from their beleaguered bullpen, Daniel Hudson came through. He allowed a one-out single to Lorenzo Cain but nothing else. When Ben Gamel's fly ball to deep center fell harmlessly into Victor Robles' glove, the Nationals finally got a chance to celebrate a clinching October victory in the middle of the diamond.

"It was like nothing I've ever experienced before," Hudson said. "It was an absolute madhouse. Just coming in from the bullpen, everybody was still so jacked up about Soto's hit. And then us taking the lead. I didn't really have time to think about anything. It was just: 'Let's go!'"

This victory happened on a night when Scherzer started but struggled, putting his team in a quick 3-0 hole. And it happened on a night when Stephen Strasburg came out of the bullpen for the first time in his career and posted three zeroes to keep the game within reach.

All this did, of course, was assure them of a spot in the best-of-five NL Division Series against the best-in-the-league Dodgers. But they'll take that shot, having survived their first ever wild card game and now prepared to play Game 1 at Dodger Stadium on Thursday night, with Patrick Corbin getting the ball for the opener.

"We just said we wanted an opportunity," catcher Kurt Suzuki said. "We wanted a chance. I know one thing for a fact: Nobody wants to play us."

The sellout crowd of 42,993 had been whipped up into a frenzy during pregame festivities that included a ceremonial first pitch from Aaron Barrett to Double-A Harrisburg manager Matt LeCroy. Barrett, whose return to the big leagues last month four years after suffering the first of two major arm injuries made national headlines, egged everyone on with professional wrestling style hand motions, setting the stage for the actual game.

The only guy more amped up than Barrett, though, might well have been Scherzer, and that wasn't necessarily a good thing.

The ace came out of the chute firing fastballs that bottomed out at 97 mph and topped out at 99 mph. The extra velocity didn't produce better results. He struggled to find the plate early and walked leadoff man Grisham. Then he left a first-pitch heater over the plate to Grandal and watched as the ball soared into the right field bullpen for a 2-0 lead that silenced the once rabid crowd.

"I could tell he was amped up," Suzuki said. "They came out aggressive, swinging early. We changed our approach a little bit after that. But you know, he made his pitches. They got us. Sometimes you tip your hat."

Brandon Woodruff also came out firing missiles, topping out at 100 mph in the bottom of the first. But he kept his pitches up enough to prevent solid contact and retired the side, sending Scherzer right back to the mound.

And only seconds later, Scherzer was watching another ball leave the yard. Eric Thames mashed a 1-0 curveball over the wall in right-center. Now the Nationals trailed 3-0, and now all eyes turned to the home bullpen to see if anyone would start warming.

Aside from a few false alarms - guys moving around, simulating their throwing motions - nobody did warm. Not in the third. Not in the fourth.

"We thought about it," Martinez said. "But the thing is to try to get Stras through the later innings, as well. Scherzer settled down after the first two innings. He was dynamite. We rode him as long as we could."

Scherzer, to his credit, battled through what clearly wasn't his best night and prevented the Brewers from scoring anything else off him, stranding a runner in scoring position in both the fourth and fifth, at which point Hudson did begin warming up just in case.

His spot in the batting order coming up, Scherzer was done for the evening. And his spotty postseason record took another hit. In five career October appearances for the Nationals, four of those starts, he now owns a 4.07 ERA and five homers allowed in 24 1/3 innings.

"I made a couple bad pitches," Scherzer said. "I threw a fastball down to Grandal, he put it in the pen. I threw a backdoor curveball to Thames, he put a good swing on it. After that inning, we stayed with the program. We know what we're doing."

Scherzer's performance was disappointing, no doubt. And the debate will forever rage on whether he or Strasburg should have started this game. But it might not have mattered, given the utter lack of scoring opportunities by the Nats lineup.

Only two batters reached in four innings versus Woodruff, with Howie Kendrick singling in the second and Trea Turner blasting a 98 mph fastball into the left field bullpen for a third-inning homer that brought the crowd back to life. But that made for a very easy 52-pitch night for the Milwaukee starter.

The Nationals' best chance may have come in the fifth against lefty Brent Suter, who allowed a two-out single to Robles and then watched as Mike Moustakas made a brilliant play to snag pinch-hitter Brian Dozier's hot shot to third only to throw wide of first for an error confirmed by replay review.

Turner stepped to the plate with a chance to get his team back in this thing, and the crowd responded in kind, urging on the leadoff man to come through in a big spot. Alas, Turner skied a fly ball to center field, and that two-out rally fizzled. Lefty Drew Pomeranz then retired the side with ease in the sixth and seventh.

"You've got to give credit to those guys," Turner said. "Pomeranz, Suter and Woodruff were really good. They're not fun at-bats."

Fortunately, Strasburg kept his team in the game with a dominant performance of his own in his first relief outing since he was an obscure pitcher at San Diego State.

Strasburg faced 10 batters over three innings. Two reached safely, though, one was quickly erased on a double play. He struck out four. He needed only 34 pitches.

"Just trying to be in the moment," he said. "You can't really look at the past. You can't look at the future. The thing about the playoffs, especially the situation we're in, you can't really predict what's going to happen. You can't look into a crystal ball. You just gotta enjoy the moment and be present."

What would have happened if Strasburg started instead of Scherzer? We'll never know.

Then again, it didn't matter. Because the Nationals did exactly what they did for the last four months. They were down. They could've been out. But they found a way to battle back and emerge on top.

They finally celebrated at the end of a winner-take-all game on South Capitol Street. And because of it, the 2019 season isn't over yet.

"You have to catch some breaks," Zimmerman said. "But more importantly, you have to take advantage of them. And in the past it seems like it's gone the other way. But tonight we caught a couple breaks, and maybe it's finally our turn."