Nats gain ground as Jayson Werth delivers late

A night after lighting up the scoreboard, the Nationals' offense fell asleep for most of Wednesday's game. With the game knotted at 1-1 with two outs in the eighth, Jayson Werth woke them up, thumping a two-run triple to propel the Nats to a 4-1 win over the Rockies.

"I'm just trying to be aggressive," Werth said on MASN's "Nats Xtra". "Things haven't really been going as planned. I'm just glad to help the team get a win. Big win for us."

The timing of Werth's clutch hit couldn't have been any better as the Orioles downed the Mets 5-4 with a walk-off homer moments before, allowing the Nationals to climb to within 3 1/2 games of the lead in the National League East.

"We needed it," Werth said. "We're gonna have to win a lot of games going forward down the stretch. Every night is a big game for us so hopefully we can build on these last two games and just keep going."

Stephen Strasburg kept the Nats in position to steal it late, limiting the Rockies to one unearned run on just two hits, with five strikeouts and no walks. The lone blemish came in the second when Ben Paulsen reached on Ryan Zimmerman's error and then scored on a wild pitch.

Ironically, the Nationals evened the score in the seventh when Rockies right-hander Gonzalez Germen bounced a slider that skipped away from catcher Nick Hundley, allowing Bryce Harper to race home.

Wilson Ramos sparked the Nats' rally in the eighth with a two-out single. Clint Robinson followed with one of the Nationals' nine walks on the night. That set the stage for Werth.

The 13-year-veteran belted right-hander Rafael Betancourt's 91 mph heater deep into the right field corner. Carlos Gonzalez was in pursuit, but the ball soared past his outstretched glove, one-hopping off the wall. As Ramos and Robinson crossed the plate, Werth jumped up from his slide into third shouting and fist-pumping toward the celebrating Nationals dugout.

"I like the fact that Willy got a base hit there," manager Matt Williams explained to reporters. "Clint laid off some good pitches just out of the zone. And then Jayson took a ball the other way."

A base knock from Yunel Escobar in the ninth followed by some aggressive baserunning helped the Nats extend the lead to 4-1 on Zimmerman's RBI line drive single to right.

That was more than enough for Casey Janssen, who delivered a spotless eighth, and closer Jonathan Papelbon, who turned in a perfect ninth to secure the first back-to-back wins for the Nationals since July 29-30.

After going 2-for-21 over the first seven games of the road trip, Werth is 4-for-10 with two doubles, one triple, one walk, two runs scored and two RBIs since sliding into the leadoff spot over the past two wins.

"He's getting there," Williams said to reporters. "It's a work in progress. Anytime you have an injury to your extremity, especially a hand or a wrist, it's difficult to come back and feel 100 percent. He's getting more and more at-bats and feeling more comfortable."