Werth could miss Brewers finale with minor groin tweak

MILWAUKEE -- Nationals outfielder Jayson Werth left Saturday's 3-0 victory over the Brewers in the middle of the sixth due to a groin injury that occured an inning earlier while chasing a popup by Rickie Weeks. Second baseman Anthony Rendon ended up catching the popup.

According to manager Davey Johnson, Werth most likely will not play Sunday, but hopes he will be ready for the three-game series against Braves starting Monday night at Nationals Park. It marked the second time Werth injured his groin this season. The last time was in late June, but he never went on the disabled list .

"It was more precautionary than anything," Werth said. "It's similar to what happened [in late June]. I just tweaked my groin a little. It's not nearly as bad as the last time I did it. It's more precaution. I took myself out, essentially. I just didn't want to [mess it up] to the point it was a more severe injury."

Adam LaRoche borrowed Werth's bat and hit a home run over the left-field wall in the sixth. It was LaRoche's 15th home run of the season. Prior to Saturday's action, LaRoche was 14-for-91 (.154) with two home runs and 10 RBIs in his previous 25 games. LaRoche got to the point where he was willing to try anything. He credited Ian Desmond for suggesting that he use Werth's bat.

"It got to the point where somebody [Desmond] mentioned it. I said, 'I would try anything right now.' I tried it and it worked out," LaRoche said. "It got to the point where my bats didn't feel good, so why not try somebody else's."

Werth recalled a time during the 2008 World Series when former Phillies teammate Shane Victorino used one of his bats and broke it, which meant he had one bat left. Why only one bat?

"I wasn't real happy," Werth said. "I switched models and weights and stuff, so they got me two [bats] for the Series quickly. In a couple of days, I had more. I had two for the first couple of games. Of course, Victorino is the type of guy who doesn't ask. He just goes around using everyone's bat and he broke it like the first game. Things were a little tight in the World Series. I was a little upset. That was many moons ago. Now, [referring to the LaRoche home run], I wasn't as upset."