Doolittle admits he is "a little tired" from his recent workload

Sean Doolittle did it again, finding a way to record a save, as the Nationals edged the Marlins 3-1 to win the first two games of the series.

But again, this save, his 19th on the season, was not easy.

With one out in the top of the ninth and the Nats leading 3-0, the Marlins put together back-to-back-to-back singles to ignite a rally attempt against the Nationals closer.

Doolittle bore down and struck out JT Riddle for the second out. But then César Puello was hit by a pitch to allow Neil Walker to walk right in from third base and touch home plate. Suddenly the shutout was gone and it was 3-1 Nats with two away.

Facing pinch-hitter Yadiel Rivera, Doolittle got him to foul off and swing through a pair of two-seam fastballs at 93 and 94 mph. Down 0-2, Rivera took fastball out of strike zone to move the count to 1-2.

Doolittle dug deep. He fired a 94.9 mph fastball which Rivera fouled off. Doolittle dug deeper and unleashed a 95.7 mph which Rivera swung and missed at to end the game. The closer then went down to crouching position on the mound. After 33 pitches, Doolittle had found a way to finish off Miami again.

"We had that meeting right before that last hitter and I told the boys I said guys I'm really sorry about this," Doolittle said. "I said I feel really good. I'm really tired, but I feel really good. Give me a quick break and I think we can get this guy, was able to make some pitches. I thought that was one of the better sequences I put together the whole inning."

But this was the third game in four days for Doolittle. Even though he had racked up a win and two saves, he admitted the tank was running pretty low on a night where the gametime temperature was 90 degrees and the humidity listed at 60 percent.

Doolittle had a unique word to describe what the outing felt like: "Grindy."

"I was a little tired with my recent workload," Doolittle said. "That heat and humidity, man, kind of zapped my energy and I was trying to pace myself and control my energy. But it was one of those nights where the harder I tried to throw, the harder they hit it back at me which was really frustrating.

"So, trying to manage my energy level I finally kind of got it right the last three hitters. I thought I threw some of my best fastballs with the best life. Coincidentally my last three guys my pitch count was getting up above 30 pitches but if Stras (Stephen Strasburg) can grind it out for over 100 pitches I can did deep and throw 35 or 40."

Yes, Doolittle, that's very gracious of you. But you forget that Strasburg had five days rest. You had pitched three times starting June 30. The closer had also faced the Marlins twice June 26-27 in Miami, so they know him pretty well by now. And as Nationals manager Davey Martinez noted, the Fish love to hunt fastballs.

That is why the skipper believes there is another reason Doolittle is so special. Even with the Marlins knowing what was coming, they still could not sustain the rally. Doolittle struck out two of the final three batters he faced.

"They got some hits," Martinez said. "We talked about this before, those guys are a good fastball hitting team. And they hit the ball, but he got out of a jam. That's what closers do. (Pitching coach) Paul (Menhart) and I were sitting there. I'm not a big fan of going out and talking to closers while they're in the game. But at a certain point he had 28 pitches and I looked at Paul, I said I think you need to just kind of slow him down. So, Paul went out there and talked to him."

The last thing the Nats want to do is get to the point where they overwork Doolittle. Their season pretty much lost all momentum last season when he went down with a toe injury and ended up playing in only 43 games.

He's made 38 appearances already this season.

"Sean's really smart and I talk to him a lot as well about how he feels and what he's doing through and he's very honest," Martinez said. "The biggest thing for me, and I thought at 28 pitches you know, but his velo was still, you know, 94 mph and the last couple days his velo has been up to 96 mph.

"Here's another guy though that he works out every single day, he does what he needs to do. We just got to monitor him because you want to have him for the whole year ... this is a guy that we can't miss so we've got to take care of him."

That will be a major key for the Nationals. Martinez has said they have searched for an eighth inning bridge to get to Doolittle. Now they have to make sure they have Doolittle for 162 as well.