Ian Desmond opens Nats' final homestand with homer, four RBIs

Ian Desmond was one of the few offensive bright spots for the Nationals in their untimely 6-4 loss to the Marlins last night. The 29-year-old smacked a two-run homer in the second to even the score and then drove in two more in the eighth on a clutch two-out single, accounting for the entire Nats tally on the scoreboard.

Desmond's home run delivered the only runs the Nationals managed against Marlins right-hander Jarred Cosarts.

"To be honest, I just caught it a little out front," Desmond said of the rocket, which landed in the Marlins bullpen. "I was kind of anticipating the cutter because that's normally what he goes to against me. I was able to get enough of it to get it out."

The longball was Desmond's first in the past 18 games. After a disappointing first half of the season where Desmond batted .211 with only seven homers, the seven-year veteran rebounded, hitting .291 with 10 homers and 26 RBIs in the first 42 games following the All-Star break.

But in September, Desmond's struggles at the plate resurfaced. He hit just .208 with two RBIs and no homers through the first 14 games of the month. Nationals manager Matt Williams indicated Desmond's swing had gotten too "big" again at times.

On Wednesday night, he broke through with an RBI double in the sixth, extending the Nats' lead to four before they went on to win in a 12-2 romp over the Phillies.

"The double (Wednesday) night was the indicator," Williams said. "Staying on a ball to right-center field is important for him. If he can use the middle of the diamond, he's really effective. Just missed a ball to right (last night), too. Drove (Marcell) Ozuna to the track. So if he can stay right where he's at, he'll be really good."

Desmond said after last night's loss that his approach hadn't changed over the past two weeks despite the results.

"The swings I've been taking the last ... going back to when we were in Miami, the hits obviously weren't there," he said. "I think I only had three or four hits on the road trip. But the swings are good. When my swing feels good, it doesn't matter who is on base. I don't see that kind of stuff. I have confidence in what I can do. My swing kind of falls apart when those situations get amplified a little bit. I felt good tonight and I look forward to getting back out there tomorrow."

Meanwhile, the Nationals fell eight games behind the division-leading Mets with only 16 games remaining in the season.

"In this situation, obviously we lost," Desmond said. "But I don't think any momentum was lost. We played a good game. We had an opportunity to tie it up there in the eighth and also in the sixth. We had the bases loaded. We kept knocking on the door. Obviously we want to win them all at this point and we weren't able to tonight. But we have an opportunity to go out and get another W tomorrow."

Unfortunately for the free-agent-to-be Desmond, he is most likely playing in his final 10 home games with the Nationals after spending all seven years of his major league career in Washington.