Eaton's plan for wild card success: "Turn it down"

This is Nationals right fielder Adam Eaton's eighth season in the major leagues, but tonight's National League wild card game against the Brewers at Nats Park will be his first playoff experience.

"I'm excited. Kind of wait your whole life for this," Eaton said. "Not just professionally (but) even in high school and middle school when you're 10, 12 years old. You dream about getting the big hit in the playoffs or just getting into the playoffs, getting on a big stage like beyond (tonight)."

But Eaton warns that he cannot let the moment of 40,000 screaming fans and the prospect of a win-or-go-home dilemma make him squeeze his bat tighter tonight.

This is a problem that previous Nats teams have fallen into. In the postseason they've faced the best pitching in the league, and hits and on-base opportunities were greatly minimized. The Nats have gotten themselves in situations where they were down in playoff must-win games and have been unable to get that key hit when they had to have it, even with multiple chances.

So, Eaton's solution is to focus on the pitcher he faces and the pitch that is thrown.

"Turn it down at the plate a little bit, just go out there like it's another game," Eaton said. "You're going to have some extra adrenalin. I enjoy that very much so at this point in the year. Just treat it one pitch at a time, same emphasis that we've done the last seven days. Just try and keep it simple.

"I take one pitch at a time. I don't really think about any games. I don't think about playoffs. All I think about is (Brewers starter Brandon) Woodruff throwing (tonight), and my job is to get on base any way, shape or form, play the best defense that I'm capable of doing. If I keep it that simple, my game is better. If I magnetize things, things don't go my way."

The Nats are playing their best baseball now. So, that should be a major plus and the Nats should roll into the postseason, right? Eaton said it just doesn't happen that way. Every game is unique.

"It's not a fairy tale where you just throw a Superman jersey on and I go out and hit four homers," Eaton said. "You got to play your game. You don't try to reach a different level. You don't try to do too much. As soon as you try to do too much, you suck. We just need to stick to our plan. That's winning baseball games. Doesn't matter by a run, or five or ten. Last week is last week and tomorrow is tomorrow. Again, we got to simplify things. Worry about one pitch, and that's pitch number one."

Eaton has done a nice job at getting on base behind leadoff hitter Trea Turner, so that Anthony Rendon and Juan Soto can drive them in. That's how the Nationals will put pressure on Milwaukee or any other team they play. That's the formula that has worked.

Eaton has slowed down recently, hitting .232 with an on-base percentage of .317 in his last 15 games. But this season his slash line has been good: .279/.365/.428 with a career-high 15 homers, a career-high 103 runs and 15 stolen bases. It's the first time he has played more than 150 games in a season since 2016.

Max Scherzer gets the ball for the Nats tonight, but Eaton said he has trust in any of the Nats starters, even in a game as important as tonight's must-win wild card matchup.

"I'm really confident with all four of our starting pitchers. (Patrick) Corbin's got a 3 (ERA), (Stephen) Strasburg's got all the wins, (Aníbal Sánchez) has pitched really, really well for us. Scherzer is doing what he does. They're all veterans. They've all been there, done that. I'm happy with all four of them.

"I'm happy with Max. He's the uber-veteran that deserves a start. I think we are at a really, really good position. It's kind of like walking Tony to get to Soto. Kind of a tough decision. We are happy with Max out there."