LaRoche details comeback win in L.A., in lineup vs. Phillies

First baseman Adam LaRoche offered more insight to the end of the Nationals' marathon 14-inning 8-5 victory at Los Angeles against the Dodgers on Wednesday. LaRoche said he was battling the flu, his hurt elbow and his aching back in his final at-bat.

LaRoche ended up with five RBIs in a game he didn't start. He hit a game-tying home run, a go-ahead two-run single in the 12th inning and a fielder's choice that scored the decisive run in the 14th.

Those three ailments still bothered him Friday, but LaRoche told manager Matt Williams he was good to go for the opener of a three-game series against the Phillies at Nationals Park.

"Got three things we're treating, trying to get rid of, but making some progress," LaRoche said.

He joked that the pain he felt from his elbow "kind of took the focus off my back for 24 hours."

Going back to Wednesday, he admitted how uncomfortable he was leading up to the game-deciding play.

"It really hurt to swing, it hurt to throw, hurt to swing," LaRoche said.

Which was hurting more, the elbow or the back?

"Both (were) pretty even. They were both bothering me," LaRoche said. "The back thing is mainly on defense, the longer I stand around. Swinging, it's not that big a deal."

In the 14th inning, LaRoche was worried he wouldn't be able to take a full swing.

"After getting hit in the elbow and then going down in the tunnel and trying to swing literally right before I was going on deck, I told (Williams), I said 'I just got to bunt, because I don't think I can swing'," LaRoche said.

"(I had) every intention of bunting and I look up and (Dodgers third baseman Juan) Uribe was playing me like a speed guy, so (bunting) was out. I'll try to swing 50 percent here, try make something happen. Chalk that up to luck."

LaRoche said he was able to get through the pain because it was in a real game.

"It didn't feel great, but not near as bad as like dry swings," LaRoche said. "I think in the situation, with some adrenalin, it took care a lot of that pain, but still it didn't feel all that great.

"Honestly, the last thing I was thinking there was any type of approach or what pitches. I'm just trying to make contact in that situation."

LaRoche said he was looking for contact in that situation and then thought he knew one way to prevent the game going into the 15th inning.

"At the time, the last thing I'm thinking about is RBI," LaRoche said. "I hate to say (I was) trying to survive it, because life can be way worse, but I was trying not to pass out. I just felt that week with whatever was going, whatever the virus was. I was just trying to survive every inning on defense praying the ball wasn't hit to me, which is typically the opposite of what you want your defenders thinking. If that meant driving in some runs to get the game over with, then that's what it took."

LaRoche said the game was good, but wasn't the most memorable he had ever been in and it wasn't the only example of this team's resilience.

"I would say this year has kind of been the best example," LaRoche said. "I don't know that that game came as a shock to anybody, with seeing some of the games we've played and some of the situations we've been down and just refused to quit. Guys find a way to push runs across. Even in some games we've lost, where we've had ninth-inning comebacks where we've been really close, whether it's one hit away or one home run a way or whatever, to be right back in a game. Guys just have a knack for getting back in these games and finding a way to win them. That was a good one."

LaRoche said the way the team came out in Seattle and Los Angeles and didn't panic after getting swept by the Phillies to start the long road trip showed the patience and confidence the Nationals have in their ability to bounce back and not panic.

"I think the nice thing there was we left Philly and didn't feel like we had to press, didn't feel like we had to change a lot," LaRoche said. "Just keep doing what we've been doing, it has a tendency to even out over a week or a road trip or whatever. That was a good example of that."