WASHINGTON -- The Nationals snapped a seven-game losing skid on Friday with an eighth-inning rally that put them on top of the Angels -- one at-bat at a time.
“You’ve got to be able to win games in different ways,” manager Blake Butera said after the 4-3 victory at Nationals Park. “And I think we did a good job of that tonight, playing really good baseball.”
The Nationals came into the game with a 1-61 record when behind after seven innings. They trailed, 2-1, entering the eighth against the Angels.
The Nats’ first plate appearance of the inning wasn’t a home run or a speedy extra-base hit. It was a full-count walk by Brady House against Samy Natera Jr.
And that was just what Butera wanted to see to get a rally going.
“Brady’s leadoff walk, that was an unbelievable at-bat,” Butera said. “It’s something that we’ve worked a ton with Brady on. … To be able to have that at-bat in that spot and set the tone for us and get on base there, that really started that inning, obviously. And then the rest of the guys followed suit.”
CJ Abrams got on base with a line-drive single. Dylan Crews put a season-long batting emphasis into motion and laid down a soft bunt to load the bases with no outs.
“He [hasn't been] comfortable with it since the beginning of the year,” Butera said. “So to see him be able to execute it in a game and get it down there and put some pressure on them in a big spot like that was awesome for him. I think that was the most excited and fired up I’ve seen him -- ever.”
Following a mound visit, Natera got Yohandy Morales to ground into a force out. Andrew Pinckney, pinch-hitting for Harry Ford (who left the game with left hand/wrist discomfort), then hit a game-tying sacrifice fly to right field. The rookie Pinckney was recalled from Triple-A Rochester on Thursday after Nasim Nuñez was placed on the bereavement list.
“[Pinckney] was with us for a while before, didn’t get a ton of runway,” Butera said. “Like his bat being right-handed, just hasn’t had a lot of opportunity given our depth in the outfield.”
Morales stole second base with Jorbit Vivas at the plate. In a 2-2 count, Vivas connected on a go-ahead double that drove in Crews and Morales.
“It was a good moment for me because everyone knows it’s not easy, lefty on lefty,” Vivas said. “I only wanted to compete and put the ball in play to try to help my team.”
Three days after the Nationals set a Major League record for the most blown saves in a season, Erik Tolman secured the game in the ninth inning. Tolman fought through allowing a two-out RBI double to Christian Moore and got pinch-hitter Kyren Paris to fly out on a first-pitch changeup.
“After that day, I just wanted to get back into the game – any game,” Tolman said. “I’m glad I got in tonight and had my little redemption. I’m just glad overall with how it went.”
After fighting back from the brink of an eight-game losing streak, Butera summed up the sentiments of a collective comeback effort.
“It’s nice to win that one,” he said.