Nats complete epic comeback win to seal series over Marlins (updated)

MIAMI – The Nationals entered Sunday’s game against the Marlins looking to win their fourth series of their last six, which would be an impressive finish to the season’s first month after they dropped four of their first five.

Very quickly it looked like they would have to wait until Monday night’s finale to wrap up this four-game wrap-around set, as they fell behind 7-0 in the first two innings with Patrick Corbin on the mound.

But the boys battled back rapidly, scoring 10 unanswered runs in the fourth and fifth innings to take the lead and then two more insurance runs late to keep it. And on the ninth anniversary of the infamous “Dan Uggla Game” in Atlanta (when the Nats rallied from a 10-2 deficit to beat the Braves 13-12 thanks to Uggla’s three-run home run in the ninth) the Nationals showed their relentlessness again in a 12-9 victory in front of a stunned announced crowd of 15,894.

“This group, I say all the time, they fight, they play hard and they're just relentless. They really are," manager Davey Martinez said after the epic rally. "They stick together. It's been a fun group so far. They want to win. They really do. They're hungry to win and you can see that. There was no give up. We were down and we kept working good at-bats and hit some big home runs."

The first five runs were manufactured in the fourth against Marlins lefty starter Ryan Weathers, with the usual suspects from yesterday’s offensive outburst leading the way.

Trey Lipscomb led off with a single, followed by an Alex Call walk. Lipscomb moved to third on Riley Adams’ flyout. Jacob Young then doubled to left to score Lipscomb and put the Nats on the board. CJ Abrams followed that with a double of his own to score two more. And the inning was capped off with Nick Senzel’s two-run homer, his first of two on the day, to bring the Nats within 7-4.

“It felt good. It feels good to be back with the guys," said Senzel, who has missed time this season with a fractured thumb and stomach illness. "Trying to get into a groove. I was able to put two good swings on the ball today and help us fight back for a win.”

Senzel hit an 86 mph outside changeup 404 feet to center field with an 104 mph exit velocity for his fourth homer of the year and second in as many days.

With new life, the Nats piled on more in the fifth. Lipscomb and Call again led the way by getting on base to start the inning by a hit-by-pitch and single, respectively. Young scored Lipscomb again with a single to bring the Nats within one run.

Then Senzel, who Martinez bumped up to the No. 2 spot in the order in hopes of jumpstarting the third baseman, delivered the game-changing blow. Facing right-handed reliever Anthony Bender, Senzel, who was the designated hitter for today, blasted a 96 mph sinker right down the middle 411 feet to center field. His second homer of the day, which left his bat at 107 mph, was also his fifth longball in his last five games.

“I just come to the field and wherever I'm hitting, I'm hitting," Senzel said of his new spot in the lineup. "I just try to prepare myself the same every day, whether I'm in the eighth hole or whether I'm in the two hole. I just try to prepare and stay the same every day. Just try to take some good at-bats and whatever the result will be, will be.”

"I just wanted to push him up, especially against a lefty," Martinez said. "I know he hit a home run against the righty, but he's a guy that plays hard. I know that about him. I've seen him play for many years. I want to get him going. I thought between putting him in between those two lefties, he'll get some pitches to hit. And he did and hit the ball hard.”

“Everyone's telling me I'm a home-run hitter. I don't feel like that," Senzel said. "I just try to take advantage of the mistakes they give me and stay aggressive. … When you stay aggressive, I think good things can happen.”

Lipscomb and Ildemaro Vargas then pulled off a perfectly executed double steal to give the Nats their 10th unanswered run.

With Vargas’ steal of home, the Nationals joined the Reds as the only clubs to have two players steal home this year. Ironically, Lipscomb also did it on April 8 in San Francisco. It was also the 10th steal of home in Nationals history (2005-present).

“I really feel like we got to find other ways to do things," Martinez said. "And having these guys, having them be athletic, letting them play the game, paying attention to detail, they've been really good. They've been really good at it. When they get on base, hey, they know they want to get second base. And I'm not I'm not going to hold them back. I told them we're going to pick spots where you guys can go and they're both aggressive. It's been fun to watch them, it really has. We're gonna push the envelope a little bit. It's just who we are. We created this identity where we're going to try to be aggressive. And right now they're doing well with it.”

The Nats have now scored 26 runs in their last 22 innings dating back to Friday’s sixth inning.

"I don't think we blinked when we went down 7-0," Young said. "It was just, let's get a couple here, a couple there. We're gonna get baserunners. When we get them on, do what we can to get them in. I thought we did a great job of putting pressure on them constantly. We got baserunners on almost every inning. A couple of big hits here and there, and next thing you know, we're in the lead.”

Although the offense’s continued production was a welcome sight, it was necessitated by another poor performance by Corbin.

Coming off 5 ⅓ scoreless innings Tuesday against the Dodgers, the veteran lefty was hoping to provide another strong outing for his club. Instead, he immediately put them in a big hole.

The Marlins loaded the bases quickly in the first with back-to-back singles and a fielding error by Abrams. And before an out was recorded, the Fish were up 4-0, thanks to Jazz Chisholm Jr.’s grand slam.

Corbin’s second pitch was a 92 mph slider in the middle of the zone that Chisholm hit just far enough to clear the center field fence and clear the bases.

Three batters later, the Marlins hit back-to-back triples and an RBI single to make it 6-0 before Corbin ended the inning on his 41st pitch.

The Fish added one more in the second with two doubles for a 7-0 lead, seemingly setting themselves up for an easy win.

But to Corbin’s credit, he held them there, which proved to be vital to the Nats’ improbable comeback victory. With two runners still in scoring position, he got out of the second inning at 66 pitches.

He then tossed a 1-2-3 third inning on nine pitches. And a leadoff walk in the fourth was erased with a huge double play turned by Call, Vargas and Joey Meneses. Call tracked down a deep fly ball from Josh Bell in right-center field and then relayed it to Vargas, who relayed it to Meneses at first to double up Bryan De La Cruz trying to get back after rounding second base.

Cobin then struck out Chisholm on his 93rd pitch, an 82 mph slider low and away, to end the inning and his outing. The Nats southpaw finished four innings with eight hits, seven runs, two walks, four strikeouts and the grand slam, throwing 53 of his 93 pitches for strikes.

“First off, what a team win there," Corbin said. "I'm trying to get on the first inning there, make some pitches, try to minimize the damage there. But the team picked me up there. And after being able to put some runs back on the board, I put up a couple zeros there and we're eventually able to take the lead. Then the bullpen did a heck of a job, too, to kind of step up for me and close out the game and keep the lead.”

Derek Law followed Corbin with two scoreless innings. Over his last two outings, Friday and today, the right-hander has pitched four shutout innings with three hits and eight strikeouts.

Jordan Weems was charged with two runs in the seventh while only recording one out to cut the Nats’ lead down to one run. Not willing to risk it anymore, Martinez brought in Hunter Harvey, who got out of the inning without any more damage with help from Lipscomb’s huge defensive play. The rookie knocked down a hot shot from Nick Fortes, gathered it and threw to first to just barely get the out and end the inning.

Now suddenly back in a close game, the Nats offense came up clutch again, adding two huge insurance runs in the eighth.

Lipscomb and Call hit back-to-back singles and both moved up on a wild pitch from right-hander Bryan Hoeing. Lipscomb then scored on Hoeing’s second wild pitch on a close play at the plate. The Marlins had no choice but to challenge, with the call standing to give the Nats an 11-9 lead.

Then Young stepped to the plate to deliver his third hit and third RBI of the day to make it 12-9. Over his last six games, Young is now 11-for-22 with eight runs scored, two doubles, five RBIs, a hit-by-pitch and four stolen bases.

“It felt good to kind of pick up the pitchers after they've been picking us up, I feel like, for a while now," he said. "It felt good to kind of have their backs and be able to put up a day like that offensively. And then of course, the two home runs by Nick were huge. That kind of put us in front. But it was just great to finally kind of pick them up and get the bats going.”

Harvey came back out to pitch a scoreless eighth and Kyle Finnegan recorded his ninth save with a scoreless ninth.

This marked the Nats’ largest comeback of the season, with their previous best being two runs, and 10th comeback win overall. It was also their largest comeback win since July 5, 2018 against the Marlins, when they were down 9-0 and came back to win 14-12, and their largest road comeback victory since that “Dan Uggla Game.”

And they now have four series wins in their last six and go for the four-game sweep tomorrow night.

“The energy was incredible. It really was," Martinez said. "They fed after every hit, after every run. You can see it. The next guy wanted to get up there and do the same thing. Then the next guy wanted to get up there and do the same thing. So it was a good team effort.”