Bullpen closes out a nailbiter to open doubleheader (updated)

DENVER – The style of game could not have been more different. Saturday’s delayed series opener was a Coors Field special, with both teams finishing in double digits. Today’s opener of a day-night doubleheader was the rare pitchers’ duel in this hitters’ haven, teams having to scratch and claw for each run.

And yet the ultimate outcome still boiled down to the same scenario from the previous afternoon: Could Nationals relievers cobble together enough big outs late to preserve a slim lead and make sure a dominant start didn’t go to waste?

Yes, yes they could. With aplomb.

Behind five clutch outs from Jose A. Ferrer to close out the seventh and eighth innings, then three more outs from Kyle Finnegan to close out the game, the Nats escaped with a 3-2 victory over the Rockies, giving themselves a chance to sweep both the doubleheader and the series later tonight.

It was a much-needed effort from perhaps the only two members of the bullpen Davey Martinez can trust right now. Ferrer and Finnegan teamed up to close out Saturday’s wild 12-11 win in which the bullpen nearly blew a 10-run lead. This one felt far more conventional, even though nothing in this ballpark ever is.

"That was almost like déjà vu there," said Finnegan, who notched his 96th career save to move into second place in club history, trailing only Chad Cordero (113). "Similar situation, but regardless of how the game has gone prior to coming in, you treat it the same. You separate it, you execute one pitch at a time."

Jake Irvin did his part to give his team a chance to win, and then some. The right-hander struck out nine, did not issue a walk and averaged barely more than 10 pitches per inning to reach the seventh. And his teammates did just enough at the plate, scoring three early runs to take the lead.

The Nationals stormed out to their early lead Saturday behind a barrage of home runs. They did so today with a flurry of singles, balls that never left the infield and some atrocious Rockies defense.

Dylan Crews got the ball rolling in the top of the second with an infield single, extending his hit streak to five games. The rookie then put pressure on the defense by stealing third and induced a wild throw from rookie catcher Braxton Fulford, scoring on the play for a 1-0 lead. Fulford would commit another error with a terribly high throw to first while attempting to turn a 1-2-3 double play, plus another one late in the game. The second error allowed two more runs to score on a ball that didn’t even make it back to the mound.

"We always want to be aggressive," Martinez said. "Today, we were going to try. We know we have two games. We're going to push the envelope a little bit. And we capitalized."

The Nats would be shut down after that, though, with Colorado starter Kyle Freeland departing prior to the third inning with a blister on his middle finger and the Rockies bullpen taking over and allowing nothing of consequence.

So it was up to Irvin to make sure those three runs held up. He did everything in his power to do so.

Picking up right where MacKenzie Gore left off Saturday afternoon, Irvin displayed surprising command and effectiveness of his curveball, even in the thin mountain air. He struck out five batters through his first four innings, each of them on a curveball. And he made it through the fifth with a paltry pitch count of 56.

"At the end of the day, it's kind of the same game plan: Attack with strikes," Irvin said. "I saw what (Gore) did, and thought it looked kind of fun. So I tried to follow it up."

Irvin wasn’t perfect. Though he allowed only two hits through six innings, each of them left the yard, each of them by a rookie who had never done that before. Zac Veen led off the third by blasting a changeup to right for his first career homer. Fulford then led off the sixth by blasting a fastball to left for his first career homer, trimming the deficit to 3-2.

"That's part of the game here, but the good news is, I've been getting early run support from these guys," Irvin said. "That's been awesome. It makes pitching a lot easier and takes pressure off me when guys are putting together great at-bats."

Irvin responded to the second home run with three consecutive strikeouts, giving him nine on the afternoon. There was no question he was going to return for the bottom of the seventh, his pitch count still only 74. But then things got interesting.

After an infield single and a popout, Irvin watched as Martinez walked to the mound and asked for the ball. He had thrown only 83 pitches, striking out nine without issuing a walk, his team leading 3-2 in the first half of a doubleheader. And he was being pulled.

"At that particular moment, you've got to remember where we're at," the manager said. "(Ferrer) was good. ... I thought we could get a ground ball from him with the sinker. It worked out good."

The move to Ferrer did pay off. The lefty immediately induced a 6-4-3 double play out of Michael Toglia to end the seventh and preserve the lead.

"That's the mentality going in there straight from the bullpen," Ferrer said, via interpreter Kenny Diaz. "I wanted to go in there and get a double play, and manufacture it with the least possible pitches."

There were, of course, still six outs for this bullpen to record for the Nats to win this game. Ferrer took care of the first three, completing the bottom of the eighth on 13 pitches. Finnegan then took care of the rest, stranding the tying runner at third base once again before notching his eighth save in as many attempts to begin his season.

"From that point on, it's just me vs. you," he said of his mindset once the runner reached third. "You take the plan, you think about the plan in the back of your head. But that's when your true competitiveness takes over. Use that adrenaline to your advantage."