Nats overcome 4 errors, 2 blown leads to earn 11-inning win

ST. LOUIS -- There were four errors. A three-run lead disappeared. A one-run lead disappeared, too. And by the 11th inning on Saturday night, the Nationals found themselves facing the potential winning run with the bases loaded.

It was far from clean. It was exactly the type of game a young team could have let slip away.

Instead, the Nationals kept finding a way.

Washington survived a chaotic final five innings to beat the Cardinals, 8-5, in 11 innings at Busch Stadium, highlighted by Jorbit Vivas' four hits on offense. But the Nationals had to overcome their own mistakes and lean on contributions from nearly everywhere on the roster to secure their second straight win.

“We're lucky we won making four errors,” manager Blake Butera said. “We also know that we can't afford to make this many errors and expect to win every night. We're fortunate we did win tonight.”

Andrew Alvarez had provided six scoreless innings, striking out eight, and Washington carried a 3-0 advantage into the seventh. From there, almost nothing came easily.

The Nationals committed three of their four errors over the final five innings. St. Louis erased deficits in the ninth and 10th. Washington used six relievers, and emptied its entire bench.

Yet each time the game tilted toward the Cardinals, someone else responded.

José Tena delivered a two-run single as part of Washington’s four-run 11th. Riley Cornelio, who recorded five outs across the 10th and 11th, escaped after St. Louis loaded the bases with nobody out in the final frame. Will Dion then entered with two outs and induced Leo Bernal’s game-ending flyout.

“I think this team has been through a lot,” Cornelio said. “We definitely know how to fight at any time, any given moment, any inning.”

That made Saturday an imperfect example of what Washington hopes these final games can provide.

Butera has stressed that the Nationals aren’t treating the end of a losing season as something to simply play out. For a young roster, there are still opportunities to learn what it takes to win -- and Saturday provided plenty of teaching moments on both ends of that spectrum.

Even James Wood became part of that lesson. Butera removed Wood late for defensive replacement Jacob Young after Wood slowed while running out a ground ball in the ninth. Wood acknowledged afterward that he needed to be better.

“I feel like we're trying to build something here,” Wood said. “I plan on being here for a long time, so I feel like I got to be able to set an example for stuff like that.”

That means learning from the mistakes. Saturday offered four of them in the error column alone.

But it also means learning how to win despite them.

“I think that's the privilege of being young,” Wood said. “We still have a lot of room to grow and learn.”