WASHINGTON -- When the Nationals came within striking distance of an eighth-inning comeback on Friday night, the speedy managerial maneuvering of Blake Butera kicked in.
Two pinch-hitters and one pinch-runner quickly came off the bench in a span of three at-bats. The Nats were rallying, and Butera was in strategy mode.
“I'd much rather a 10-2 win, I promise you that,” Butera said following the 7-5 loss to the Padres. “But I think these guys, what they’ve done such a good job of is that they want to contribute in any way they possibly can.
“Even when they get pinch-hit for, seeing them pull for their teammates. This group is so close-knit, they really just care about one thing, and that’s winning the game. It makes my job a lot easier when you're having to make these tough decisions and they're 100% on board and behind one another and pulling from one another.”
The Nationals trailed by two runs in the eighth inning. The first move came when the Padres replaced southpaw Adrian Morejon with right-hander Jason Adam. Butera pinch-hit lefty-batter José Tena for righty-batter Jacob Young: Tena lined a single into right field at 107.6 mph.
“Handedness, with Tena for JY,” Butera explained. “And Tena’s been really good off the bench. I think he leads baseball in pinch-hits.”
Indeed, Tena leads MLB with six hits as a pinch-hitter. Hot-hitting Keibert Ruiz, who homered in the second inning, then singled into right field. Fernando Tatis Jr. misplayed the ground ball and Tena advanced to third base.
Looking for speed on the basepaths, Butera pinch-ran Drew Millas for Ruiz.
Butera then turned to Jorbit Vivas, another left-handed hitter, to pinch-hit for switch-hitting Nasim Nuñez. Vivas, though, fell to 0-for-24 with runners in scoring position.
“At the end of the day, we trust him to put together at good at-bat there,” Butera said. “A first-pitch fly ball to left is not what we had planned for or hoped for there. He’s given us some good at-bats, but ultimately just thought Vivas was a better matchup than Nas in that spot. It didn’t work out.”
The Padres, meanwhile, made their own adjustments to face James Wood. They pulled Adam, who had a mere 0.95 ERA, for the just-as-dominant Mason Miller.
“When they’re taking someone like Jason Adam, one of the best relievers in baseball, out after facing three batters in six pitches, that to me is a testament of how good our lineup is,” Butera said.
Wood worked a full-count walk with two outs against Miller to load the bases. Luis García Jr. then also pushed Miller to a full count before lining out on the seventh pitch.
“He’s an unbelievable reliever. One of the best in baseball, if not the best,” Butera said of Miller. “I thought Woody’s at-bat was awesome. I thought Luis’ at-bat was awesome, too. He gets a 3-2 fastball, 101 [mph] that he drives to left field and almost burns the left fielder. If that just gets over his head, we’re sitting up here having a different conversation.”
The Nationals game plan to be adaptable. The players are doing the same. The eighth inning on Friday was just a small glimpse into how this energetic team is playing ball.
“They answer the bell every time,” Butera said. “They're ready to go, they're thinking through the game just like we are. They've seen how we behave, we're not going to just flip the switch and start acting differently. That's a big piece of why we want to behave the same way, is just these guys can start to think the game the same way we can, they can start to prepare themselves.”