Adams demonstrates value with dramatic game-tying home run

It came in a 5-3, 12-inning loss to his former team, but Matt Adams' dramatic game-tying solo homer against the Braves with one out in the bottom of the ninth was a very big deal.

"It felt good. It was a big-time moment," Adams said. "I'm the type of guy, I want to do whatever it is, whether it's that, a walk, get on base, keep the line moving. This team has got a lot of great guys on it. Just to keep the line moving is an important part. Like you guys saw today, we keep fighting until the end. It's a good feeling for sure."

The Nationals trailed 2-1 at the time heading into the ninth against the Braves. Reliever A.J. Minter had just struck out the side in the eighth. Closer Arodys Vizcaíno came in to nail down the ninth for the save.

On April 4 in Atlanta, Adams struck out facing Vizcaino to end a 7-1 loss.

This time, Adams was able to connect.

"I'm trying to get a good swing off, put the barrel on the ball," Adams said. "Whatever happens after that, it happens. I'm the type of guy that whenever I try to do too much, I do a lot less than what I'm capable of doing. Less is more for me in that sense."

The home run was also big for Adams after he was tagged out on a dramatic play that ended the seventh on a play that would have tied the game.

After reaching base on a hit by pitch, Adams found himself at second base with two outs. Wilmer Difo lined a base hit to left field and Adams raced home, but was tagged out on a nice throw by Preston Tucker to catcher Kurt Suzuki at home plate. At the time, it was the Nats' best chance to score since the third inning.

"Yeah, Difo hit that ball pretty good," Adams said. "I'm not the fastest guy out there. (Tucker) made a good throw and Suzuki got back to the plate."

Did manager Davey Martinez think he should have pinch-run for Adams to get more speed on the base paths?

"I didn't want to run for him because I knew he'd have another chance to come up," Martinez said. "We play aggressive, so that's all that was. He made a good throw."

Martinez's inclination was prophetic, as Adams did come up in the ninth and his blast gave new life to the Nats.

Later, Howie Kendrick tied the game again in the 11th with an RBI double.

"It's huge and with this team everyone's important," Adams said of the twin comebacks. "To be able to put us back to a tie game and go into extras with a chance to win, it is huge."

In the end, it was a loss. But the Nats did win the series and that was a big turnaround after enduring a five-game losing streak. Martinez sensed his team was hungry for the sweep.

"The whole game, they were pretty jacked up," Martinez said of his players. "We come back and everybody was excited. we played well. Like I said, we just fell a little short, but I'm proud of them. They didn't give up, which is nice; they had a lot of energy, which is great."

Last season, Adams played 100 games with Atlanta. This season, as a role player with the Nats, Adams has not yet had many opportunities to make a game-changing impact.

It is always the goal of a new player who has had success elsewhere to prove to his new team he was worth the signing. Adams' game-saving solo homer Wednesday was one of those moments.

This was his eighth game with the Nats. Now Adams wants more.

"I'm thankful to be a part of this club," Adams said. "I've seen it too many times from the other side what this club is capable of doing. So it's a nice feeling to be a part of team like this and what a special season we are going to have."