After harrowing ninth Saturday night, Nats figuring out bullpen plan

DENVER – As he mapped out his bullpen plan for Saturday night’s game, Nationals manager Davey Martinez knew he wanted to use Hunter Harvey to get out of a jam (which proved to come in the sixth inning). He knew he wanted Kyle Finnegan to face the top of the Rockies lineup (which happened to come in the eighth). And he knew he wanted Anthony Banda to face a string of lefties (which happened to be due up in the ninth).

Everything seemed to be going according to plan, until Banda took the mound for the bottom of the ninth with a 7-2 lead and couldn’t retire any of the three batters he faced, with Mike Moustakas blasting a two-run homer on the 10th pitch of his at-bat.

So now Martinez was left to summon the only remaining experienced late-inning arm in his bullpen: Carl Edwards Jr., who was thrust into an unexpected save situation.

“We mapped it out,” Martinez said afterward. “One, we wanted to get Finnegan back in there and get him some more work. He’s still searching a little bit with his mechanics. He threw the ball a lot better. He was able to throw the ball inside, get a ground ball, we turned a double play. And then we had the matchups with Banda, all lefties. It just didn’t work out. We had CJ as well. It was just one of those days here.”

It was one of those days that are all too common at Coors Field, but it did still have a happy ending for the Nationals. Despite giving up three hits and allowing two more runs to score while he was on the mound, Edwards gutted his way through the bottom of the ninth and struck out Kris Bryant to end the game with the tying runner in scoring position, the Nats surviving with a 7-6 victory.

As much as it might have looked like the inning was spiraling away from Edwards, the right-hander insisted he had things under control throughout.

“Yeah, every time I gave up a hit, I was walking around the mound and I was giving the hand gestures like: 'calm down, calm down,'” he said. “I looked over at the guys in the dugout also saying: 'I’m fine, I’m fine.' First time I’ve had this adrenaline in a long time. My body had to get used to it. But my mental part felt like I had been there before. That was the biggest part.”

Though he recorded two saves for the Nationals last season, Edwards said he hadn’t experienced this amount of adrenaline and pressure since his peak years with the Cubs (2016-17).

That he happened to get the final out this time by striking out his former Chicago teammate Bryant only added to the drama.

“That’s the first time I’ve ever faced Kris. Ever,” Edwards said. “Even when we played together, I never saw him in live BP. It felt great. It comes down to two guys who played together. He’s a good friend. It was exciting. A lot of emotions out there. I got him out, but give him credit: He’s a tough out. He’s got my respect.”

The ninth-inning dilemma did raise one question about Martinez’s bullpen usage: why not let either Harvey or Mason Thompson go multiple innings, especially when the former needed only five pitches to get out of the sixth inning and the latter needed only nine pitches to retire the side in the seventh?

“Yeah, we thought about it,” Martinez said. “It’s still early, and I’ve got to make sure. These guys have a history of getting injured, so I want to make sure I take care of them. We’ll see how they feel tomorrow. They could be available tomorrow as well, which we’ll need. I think Finnegan is probably going to be down. So if they’re available tomorrow, it would be great.”

Martinez was still waiting to hear how everyone felt this morning before mapping out his plan for today’s game. Finnegan seems most likely to be unavailable, and the manager will probably be hesitant to use Harvey or Thompson on three consecutive days. That could mean another save opportunity for Edwards. It could also mean the first opportunities for Hobie Harris or Thaddeus Ward to pitch in high-leverage situations.