Jose Lobaton gets to play role of hero as Nats drop Marlins

Jose Lobaton does not get many opportunities to play as the backup catcher. Even more rare is the chance for him to impact the game in his last at-bat.

Friday night, Lobaton's fly ball to left field scored Jayson Werth from third base with the winning run as the Nationals completed a 5-4 comeback win over the Marlins in 10 innings.

"What do you want me to say, (I am) happy," Lobaton said afterwards at his locker. "That was something that you really want to do every time you got that situation and it happened today. I'm really excited right now that it happened, that I'm part of the team, that I get the RBI that win the game. Hopefully, if I get another opportunity, try to take it."

Lobaton finished 1-for-4 with a walk and the game-winning sacrifice fly RBI.

"I hit the ball OK," Lobaton said. "I know he can run. I know (he is) gonna try no matter what. I saw him running and I'm like, 'OK, please!' And then I saw the safe, that's good. As soon as I hit the ball, I know he gonna try. That was the thing. And I was watching the fly ball and then I saw him running. I was just praying at that moment."

The fly ball scored Werth as he slammed head first into home plate and then went back and touched it with his hand with his forehead scraped. Werth was proud that Lobaton was able to grasp the role of hero in the win.

"I'm super happy for him," Werth said. "He's such a great guy, he's a big part of this club. Just got a couple of starts the last few games, but before that, it was like a couple weeks since he played. Just happy for him, he deserves it."

"It's awesome for him, to be ready at a moments notice like he is," said first baseman Clint Robinson, who had a single and home run. "Not getting to play all the time and to be put in that spot to come through for us. It's huge for him. Loby's been around. He knows what he's doing. He knows as a backup catcher, he knows how to go about things. You saw what happened tonight. He got it done."

Even starter Max Scherzer was impressed with the work Lobaton was doing behind the plate, calling the game and even throwing out Christian Yelich attempting a steal in the top of the tenth.

"Loby hasn't caught me in quite a while," Scherzer said. "He did a great job behind the plate of framing and calling the game and being in sequence. I didn't have to shake much. So that's a lot of credit to him because it's tough being a backup catcher and not getting to play to be able to go out there and be in rhythm with a starting pitcher. That's just not easy. He did a great job today."

Scherzer even got to pour the new traditional chocolate syrup on Lobaton's head after the walk-off sac fly, a celebration that hadn't been enjoyed at Nationals Park in a couple of months.

"That was really good," Lobaton laughed. "I wasn't expecting that. It taste good. And then I got more here inside. My hair still smells like chocolate."

And the glimmer of hope in trying to gain on the Mets?

"We try to play hard every day and win no matter what," Lobaton said. "If we got a chance to qualify for the playoff, OK, we got to win. That's the only thing. We got to win today and tomorrow and the next 13 games we got left and battle. That's all we got."