Nationals come up big to beat Braves in series opener (updated)

It's only June 21, so there's still the promise of far more important baseball games yet to be played. But in order for those future games to carry real importance, the Nationals know they needed to treat this June 21 game as though it was taking place on Aug. 21.

And so here was Davey Martinez pulling out all the stops in tonight's series opener against the Braves, trying out a different lineup combination, then turning to whatever available arms he had at his disposal in an attempt to squeak out a win over the National League East leaders.

That meant Javy Guerra, who pitched each of the last two days, would pitch the seventh inning with a one-run lead. It meant Tony Sipp, who has not pitched much at all, would start the eighth inning. It meant Trevor Rosenthal, who has not been entrusted with a high-leverage assignment since the season's first week, would be asked to strand the tying runner in scoring position in the eighth.

And it meant Wander Suero, pitching for the third straight day, would take the mound for the ninth inning because Sean Doolittle was not available to pitch for the third straight day.

Talk about flop sweat-inducing drama on an otherwise lovely summer evening at the ballpark.

But when Victor Robles made a spectacular, sliding catch of Dansby Swanson's blooper in shallow right-center to end it, all the drama and anxiety was worth it. The Nationals had pulled off a 4-3 victory to improve to a perfect 4-0 on this critical homestand against the Phillies and Braves. And they proved they could do it on a night they didn't have all of their best weapons.

"Electric night all around," Rosenthal said. "Just a great baseball game. Great night. Great weather. It was amazing. I think everyone really enjoyed that."

Winners in 18 of their last 25 games, the Nationals have managed to climb all the way back from 12 games under .500 to one game under the break-even point. They've won their last six games against the Phillies and Braves. They're 3-0 against Atlanta this season. And they're now 6 1/2 games back in the division, 3 games back in the wild card race.

"That was a lot of fun," Martinez said. "I enjoyed that."

Suero was the unlikely man on the mound to finish it off with a scoreless ninth after informing Martinez before the game he was good to pitch a third straight day and assume the closer's role with Doolittle unable to pitch.

Why was the second-year reliever confident he could do the job for his manager?

"Because of the confidence he's given me," Suero said via interpreter Octavio Martinez. "Especially lately in big situations, despite my numbers not being where I'd like them to be, he keeps giving me the confidence. And so I'm definitely excited and ready to be out there and help out any way I can."

It did require a big-time escape act. With the tying runner on second, Suero struck out Ronald Acuña Jr. with a 97 mph fastball. Then he got Swanson to send that little looper into no-man's land in shallow right-center, watching as Robles came charging in to make the play and avoid colliding with Brian Dozier as the crowd of 34,212 erupted.

"Coming in, I'm not going to lie, a little bit of fear came into my mind," Robles said, also via Martinez. "I suffered an injury last year (in Triple-A), a pretty serious one, and I know Dozier was coming after it pretty hard. So it was a little, I wouldn't say hesitation, but there was a little doubt in my mind as I was coming to make the play. But luckily I still kept in my head, playing fearless like I usually do."

If Robles had doubts he'd make the play, his teammate on the mound more than made up for it.

"I know how fast Robles is, and I know how good of a defensive player Dozier is, so I know they were both attacking the ball very well," Suero said. "So I was actually excited jumping up and down even before they caught the ball, because I knew it was going to be made."

And all that came after Rosenthal pitched out of an eighth-inning jam, getting Austin Riley to ground out on a 100 mph fastball for his biggest out of the season.

"Just to be able to contribute, that's what I want to do," the beleaguered reliever said. "I want to be here. I want to be a part of these wins. It was a lot of fun."

There were plenty of reasons to be compelled by this ballgame from the outset, chief among them the starting matchup of Stephen Strasburg and Dallas Keuchel. One was making his 16th start of the year, trying to keep his team's positive momentum rolling. The other was making his season debut after signing late, trying to keep his new team's positive momentum rolling.

Both veterans quickly realized they were facing a stiff challenge against these respective lineups. Strasburg gave up plenty of hard contact early, including a two-run blast by Austin Riley into the left field bullpen that put the Braves on the board first. A Freddie Freeman two-out RBI double to left-center - the hit that probably defines the first baseman's career more than any other - made it 3-0 and left plenty in the crowd mumbling obscenities.

"One of the things they always talk about is, especially when you're around the game a long time, is how good is your bad game?" Strasburg said. "Really just trying to keep it close, and they came through and got me off the hook."

The Nationals consistently gave themselves chances to score against Keuchel, and though it took a while they finally delivered. They put at least one man in scoring position in each of the lefty's five innings, going 0-for-7 in those situations until the fourth, when Robles broke through with an RBI triple to the right-center gap.

That opened the floodgates for a few minutes. Michael A. Taylor put down a nice squeeze bunt and recorded only his second RBI of the season. Then Yan Gomes put forth perhaps his best swing of the season, launching a solo homer deep into the left field bleachers to complete the three-run rally and tie the game.

And one inning later, the Nationals took the lead, thanks to two of their big bats. Juan Soto opened the inning with a triple into the right field corner, then scored when Anthony Rendon looped a soft liner just beyond Swanson's reach at shortstop.

That was the good news, that the Nats had taken the lead. The bad news: They failed to tack on despite countless opportunities. By the time the sixth inning came to a close, they were a staggering 2-for-15 with runners in scoring position.

"I would have liked to have gotten all of those runs," Martinez said. "You always feel like we're in the game. Three runs, Stras is keeping us in the game, I really felt like: Hey, if we can get the ball up, things will happen. ... As the game progressed, I thought we'd start hitting him a little better."

Because Strasburg needed 101 pitches to get through his six innings of three-run ball, the Nationals had no choice but to ask their overtaxed bullpen to piece together the final nine outs with zero margin for error.

Somehow, some way, they pulled it off.

"We got one more than the other guy," Martinez said. "That's all it took."