WASHINGTON -- The afternoon after an eighth-inning rally fell short against the Padres, the Nationals got redemption in the seventh.
“There was a lot of good in that seventh inning,” manager Blake Butera said. “... I loved the at-bats, but I also loved the way that we played the game. That’s what we want our identity to be.”
King had only allowed one run and was breezing through on a low pitch count. The Nationals, meanwhile, had 11 comeback wins entering the game.
Trailing 3-1, former Padre CJ Abrams got the Nats' offense going with a leadoff line-drive single to center field. José Tena reached on a fielder’s choice to second base, during which Abrams slid in head-first, prompting a mound visit.
“I hope they saw that our guys played for each other and they played really hard. Those are the big things,” Butera said. “CJ going head-first into second there and getting hit in the face a little bit, risking it. It wasn’t for him to get a hit, right? He’s doing that for his team. He’s doing that to beat out a play to help our hitter get on base and help us get a rally going.”
Jorbit Vivas drew a walk to load the bases for Dylan Crews. King hit Crews with a mislocated first-pitch sinker to bring in a run, ending his day with the bases still loaded with no outs.
“He gets hit in the hand, and you see him hustling to beat a ball to second base,” Butera said of Crews.
Reliever Bradgley Rodriguez attempted to halt the Nats, but they were just getting started.
In the next at-bat, Drew Millas hit a fielder’s choice to Fernando Tatis Jr. at second base. Tatis threw to shortstop Xander Bogaerts at second for the automatic out, but the veteran infielder committed a missed catch error as Crews slid. Tena scored to tie the game, 3-3. Padres manager (and former Nationals pitcher) Craig Stammen was ejected for arguing the call, after San Diego challenged the safe call at second but was unsuccessful.
“We put together a bunch of good at-bats today and we ran the bases really well,” said Millas, who homered off King in the third. “... We’ve got a lot of confidence in our group. It’s very contagious when somebody gets going, and this group just feeds off one another. We did that today.”
Pinch-hitter Curtis Mead then drew a go-ahead bases-loaded walk. Meanwhile, Rodriguez settled in after a mound visit to strike out James Wood, but it was a temporary pause.
Luis García Jr. hit a two-run single into center field to give the Nats a three-run advantage. Daylen Lile plated Mead the next at-bat with a force out to second base. Lile dashed to first base with an elite sprint speed of 30.2 feet per second to beat out the throw.
“It could be a double play, and [Lile] beats it down the line,” Butera said. “Those are just the things that they’re not doing for themselves; they’re doing for the team.”
The Nats’ rally only ended after they batted around the order and Abrams struck out in his second plate appearance of the inning, but not before Washington had pulled ahead, 7-3.
“I think when you talk about the identity and the culture we want to build here,” Butera said, “hopefully fans enjoy watching that baseball because they know that whether we win or lose, [these players are] giving everything they have to help us win that game.”