Escobar's "best game" leads Nats to third straight win

With a desire to add more offense to his team that had failed in the postseason, Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo pulled the trigger on a controversial trade to acquire infielder Yunel Escobar for reliever Tyler Clippard in mid-January. Wow, has it paid off. Escobar turned in a 5-for-5 night at the plate that included a clutch two-out two-RBI single in the eighth to break a tie and propel the Nats to a 6-4 win over the Marlins.

Escobar, who is batting a team-high .311, never had five hits in a game before in his nine seaons in the big leagues.

"This is the best game of my career," said a proud Escobar in the Nats clubhouse afterward.

In a wild game, the resilient Nats actually scored in every inning that the Marlins did, answering each time Miami took the lead. None was bigger than the eighth, where the Nats came to bat trailing 4-2.

Moments after first baseman Ryan Zimmerman worked a leadoff walk, shortstop Ian Desmond smoked a rocket that sailed over the wall in center for a game-tying home run.

"Swing hard in case you hit it," Desmond said. "I hope it gets up. I hit it good, but I didn't know if it was high enough. It made it over. It was a good one."

The 24,731 in attendance at Nats Park wouldn't sit down until Desmond came back out of the dugout for a curtain call after his big blast tied it.

"It was huge," Desmond said.

The Nats weren't finished. A pinch-hit single from Tyler Moore and a double from center fielder Denard Span set the stage for Escobar's dramatic line drive to right, which pushed the Nats in front for good.

"Just gives them confidence that they're not out of a game," Nationals manager Matt Williams said. "Which is a good thing. It's good that they can do that. We've got some guys that can hit the ball over the fence, and Desi got a good pitch to hit tonight and got us even and couple of base hits and Yunel did what he does - stayed inside a baseball. Really good night for him."

Closer Drew Storen needed rest after pitching in three of the last four games, so Williams turned to right-hander Tanner Roark to shut the door in the ninth. A single to Marlins second baseman Dee Gordon set up one of the most intense moments of the young season for the Nats. Roark went head-to-head with arguably the game's most feared hitter, Giancarlo Stanton, with two outs and Stanton representing the tying run. After falling behind, Roark worked the count back to full and then sent the crowd at Nats Park into a frenzy by striking out Stanton to end the game.

"I was definitely amped up big-time," Roark said. "Especially since we tied the game and went ahead. I was just even more amped up and ready to get out there. It was an adrenaline rush."

The Nats have now won three straight and six of their last seven to pull within three and a half games of the National League East lead.

"I think coming off a long road trip and to come home and have our fans, with a lot going on in the city, come out and support us and then obviously stick around after we probably frustrated them for a few innings ... it paid off for them," said Desmond. "They got to see a good W."