Photo by John Caulfield for TalkNats
Matt Adams drove in Trea Turner for the winning run in the 11th inning in a game that Zack Greinke departed with a 1-to-0 lead until Archie Bradley balked home the tying run. Tanner Roark was brilliant tonight going 7.0 innings of 1-run baseball, and the bullpen threw a 4 inning shutout.
All facets of the Nationals game was on display tonight. The defense was fantastic and one of the biggest plays of the game was a Jarrod Dyson caught-stealing on a bounced throw from Pedro Severino that Trea Turner caught on a short-hop and applied the tag. Honorable mention to Bryce Harper for hustling in the outfield to hold runners from taking extra bases.
In some disappointing news, Matt Wieters left the game in the 2nd inning with a leg injury. One of our sources says that Spencer Keiboom is en route to Arizona. Kieboom is not on the 40-man roster so there will have to be a space opened up for him.
“Matt Wieters is getting an MRI tomorrow,” Dave Martinez said. “He’s tender. The back of the knee.”
Coming into this game, the Arizona Diamondbacks had the best record in the National League and Zack Greinke was unbeaten this season at Chase Field. The Nationals hung with the Diamondbacks keeping the game close, and they tying run happened with some small ball after Michael Taylor led-off with a double and was bunted to 3rd base by Wilmer Difo and scored on a balk. The Nationals winning run came from a Trea Turner single followed by an Anthony Rendon walk and a Matt Adams opposite field single.
“That is a great win against an unbelievable opponent,” Dave Martinez said.
Martinez’s team had cleared out their bench early using Pedro Severino to replace the injured Matt Wieters and then Wilmer Difo and Moises Sierra both pinch-hit. Ryan Zimmerman hurt himself again and was not available with a stiff back from a head-first slide on Wednesday. Luckily, Martinez did not need to go to his bench again as the game ended in the 11th inning. Davey laughed that he had Jeremy Hellickson and Stephen Strasburg in the indoor batting cages and ready if needed.
The Nationals are now 4-and-9 in one-run games, and this game marks the Nationals first win in extra innings this season. Brandon Kintzler earned the win and Sean Doolittle got his 7th save of the season. “Every Day” Sammy Solis made his 21st appearance of the season, and Ryan Madson combined for the other two innings for the 8th and 9th innings.
