den Dekker another example of utility player delivering for Nats

He had played in only five games since June 17.

Fifteen minutes before he was needed, he was waiting in the dugout.

Then, in the third inning, an injury to a starter thrust Matt den Dekker into the game.

Suddenly, after two outs in the bottom of the frame, he hit a crisp single to right field and couple of batters later, he is standing on third base. His team is down 1-0, and he has a chance to make a difference.

den Dekker watched for any mistake by Reds starter Anthony DeSclafani. The Cincinnati hurler provided a chance with a ball in the dirt in front of catcher Brayan Pena.

den Dekker raced down the line and dove for the plate. His left hand went between the legs of Pena and touched home plate. Home plate umpire Vic Carapazza yelled, "Safe!" and the Nationals were on the board with a huge game-tying run.

"Two strikes, two outs, looking for a ball in the dirt," den Dekker said. "Just tried to get a read and try to see the angle on the ball. Once I saw it going down, I kind of got a pretty good jump and saw it kick off of Pena.

"I think (Pena) was trying to find where the plate was. He kind of came out and then came back. I got a little bit of his shin guard there, but it's all good. It's part of the game."

The Reds ended up winning 3-2. But the play by den Dekker was another example of how the final five players on the Nationals roster have continued to come in, perform well, and impact games.

"Opportunity knocks and he's ready," said Nationals manager Matt Williams. "It's not ideal. It's not the way we planned it for today, but sometimes you have to adjust. He did fine. Made a couple of nice plays in the outfield, got a single for us, gave us an opportunity."

den Dekker came into the game in the top of the third as an early replacement for Denard Span, who left with recurring back spasms.

"That's part of the game," den Dekker said. "As a bench guy, you've got to be ready any time and his back started tightening up and me and the other guys were just getting loose waiting to see what would happen."

There is no excuse for the bench players. Clint Robinson, Tyler Moore, Dan Uggla and den Dekker know they have to be ready at the beginning of games for injuries and at the end of games as a pinch-hitter. Either way, they have little time to get acclimated to a pitcher or the pace of game. They must hit the ground running.

He recorded two putouts in left field. den Dekker watched helplessly as the Reds' Eugenio Suarez lofted a fly ball over the left field wall down the line near his spot for the go ahead run.

"At first I thought it was going to be close to the wall, and it just kept carrying," den Dekker said. "It just got out."

den Dekker didn't even play the first two innings and still accrued four at-bats.

"Any time coming off the bench, I like to try to be aggressive and try to get a pitch early in the count and try to make something happen," den Dekker said.

"I think we've played well for the most part and a lot of guys have stepped up and filled holes, and I think that's what we're going to keep trying to do."