Nats take advantage of last at-bat for "best win of the year"

The Nationals had become too familiar in recent days with the slow trudge off the field after losing a road game in walk-off fashion. It's the worst feeling in baseball, and they had experienced it Sunday afternoon in Philadelphia and again Tuesday night in Baltimore.

So, if nothing else, the Nationals took the field tonight on South Capitol Street knowing they could not lose another walk-off. And if they played their cards just right, they might even put themselves in position to win one of those for a change.

"That shows you the power of the last at-bat," Dusty Baker said.

It shouldn't be that big a deal, but when your bullpen owns the worst ERA in the league and has had a devil of a time closing out games, there is an inherent psychological advantage in knowing you've got the last at-bat. If you can simply take the lead in the bottom of the ninth, the other guys don't get a chance to come back against that bullpen of yours.

And so tonight's 7-6 victory over the Orioles - a game the home team trailed by four runs - was especially sweet for a Nationals club that got a chance to celebrate on the field after watching their interleague rivals do it in their presence 24 hours earlier.

"We've kind of had a rough stretch here," left fielder Jayson Werth said. "So I felt like we needed that one."

A lot of guys wearing curly W caps needed this one. Michael A. Taylor, who after going 1-for-18 with 10 strikeouts turned things around with an RBI single early and then a big, two-run homer late that started his team's comeback. Werth, who engineered his latest in a long line of epic, double-digit at-bats that end in a home run. And Matt Wieters, who after an emotional couple of nights playing in his old stomping grounds returned to his new home and produced the game-winning hit to topple his former team.

"We just needed a win," Wieters said. "We'd kind of played poorly the first two games all around. Finally we were able to get some momentum there in the last inning."

The momentum began as a result of Werth's 11-pitch at-bat against fill-in Orioles closer Brad Brach. Werth has done it plenty of times before, most memorably in Game 4 of the 2012 National League Division Series to beat the Cardinals, and it never fails to impress when he does it again.

After fouling off six of the previous seven pitches he saw from Brach, Werth finally got one he could handle: a 96 mph fastball up and away. He drove it to right-center and the crowd of 32,984 roared as the veteran circled the bases having trimmed the deficit to 6-5.

As an at-bat like that plays out, does Werth start thinking what surely everyone else is thinking? Home run?

"Not really," he insisted. "I'm just kind of settling in. I feel more comfortable. I guess that's really all I feel up there. I think you get a look at everything the guy's got."

From the on-deck circle, Bryce Harper certainly got a chance to gather plenty of information about Brach. He promptly took a pitch the other way and then hustled himself into a double, putting the tying run in scoring position.

After Ryan Zimmerman grounded out to the pitcher, Daniel Murphy stepped to the plate, thinking he'd get a full opportunity to swing the bat against Brach. But after falling behind in the count, the Orioles elected to intentionally walk Murphy, in the process putting the winning run on base.

Anthony Rendon was up next, and he singled to center as all eyes turned toward third base. Harper is as aggressive a baserunner as there is, and Bob Henley is as aggressive a third base coach as there is. But in this moment, the stop sign went up and Harper hit the brakes to leave the bases loaded with one out.

"He told me that was the toughest hold that he had," Baker said, relaying Henley's words. "He might have been out by 20 feet, because that throw was right on the money. Adam Jones is an outstanding center fielder with an outstanding arm. He came in, charged well, cut the distance down and then threw a bullet to home plate. That was a huge hold."

Yes, it was. Because it set the stage for Wieters to bat with the bases loaded, one out, the tying run on third and the winning run on second. And the former Orioles catcher wasted little time pouncing on his old batterymate's first pitch and roping a line drive toward first baseman Chris Davis.

"I was just looking for something I could try and get elevated a little bit and stay out of the double play," Wieters said. "And I almost hit it right to Davis anyways. But I was able to get it through, and big win."

Perhaps the key to everything was Rendon, who when he saw the line drive turned to run back toward first base just in case it was caught on the fly. In doing so, he may have screened Davis just enough for the ball to slip right through and into shallow right field. Harper scored from third, Murphy scored from second and the rest of the Nationals mobbed Wieters and delivered kidney punches to their new catcher.

Baker called it "probably the best win of the year for us." Wieters had to particularly savor it, though he insisted that had nothing to do with the identity of the opposition.

"No, other than the fact that they kicked our butts there, and it was time to come back and try to get a win," he said. "That's the thing: The competition is what I enjoy. So anytime they beat you, you want to come back and beat them. That's why we all play the game."