Nats rally twice to tie but can't finish the job, lose 5-3 in 12

They got the start they needed from A.J. Cole. They got the big blast they needed from Matt Adams to tie the game in the bottom of the ninth. And they got the clutch hit they needed from Howie Kendrick to keep the game going in the bottom of the 11th.

But the Nationals bullpen could not post a zero when the club most needed one in extra innings, and so a wild Wednesday matinee on South Capitol Street ended in frustrating fashion for the home club, which suffered a 5-3 loss in 12 innings and missed an opportunity to pull off a three-game sweep of the Braves.

Peter Bourjos' two-run, seeing-eye single past a drawn-in infield with the bases loaded in the top of the 12th proved the difference, a perfectly placed dribbler to the right side that nonetheless got the job done and handed the loss to Ryan Madson fewer than 24 hours after the veteran reliever had notched his first save of the season.

Madson, the Nationals' sixth reliever of the day, got into immediate trouble with back-to-back singles and a walk, loading the bases for Kurt Suzuki, whose 11th-inning homer off Shawn Kelley had put Atlanta in position to win earlier. Madson got Suzuki to pop up this time, but he couldn't prevent Bourjos from sneaking his grounder in between Adams and Kendrick on the right side of the infield.

The Nats lineup, which had delivered the rallies necessary to tie the game in the ninth and 11th, could not mount one more rally in the 12th and trudged away at the end of a long afternoon.

Those earlier rallies did inspire the crowd of 21,109, though.

Down a run heading into the final frame and unable to do anything at the plate all afternoon, the Nationals got the instant jolt they needed from Adams, who launched a one-out homer into the red seats in left-center field off Atlanta closer Arodys Vizcaíno. And then they put themselves in prime position to win it moments later when Michael A. Taylor singled, took second on an error and took third on a wild pitch, all with two outs.

But despite a long battle at the plate with Vizcaíno, Pedro Severino couldn't drive the winning run home. The young catcher grounded to second, and that sent this game into extra innings, at which point things got mighty interesting.

The Braves threatened in the top of the 10th against Sean Doolittle and had the go-ahead run 90 feet away with two outs and Suzuki at the plate. And then Ender Inciarte broke from third and tried a straight steal of home on a 3-1 count, attempting to catch Doolittle and Severino completely by surprise. To their credit, both pitcher and catcher reacted quickly enough, with Doolittle firing to the plate and Severino applying the tag.

Umpire Chad Whitson called Inciarte out, and though everyone in the park had to sweat it out for a extra couple of minutes while the play was reviewed in New York, the call eventually stood and the game remained tied.

After Suzuki homered off Kelley in the 11th, the Nationals came right back and tied it up again, thanks to Kendrick's two-out double to score Bryce Harper from second. It was all for naught by game's end, though.

Eight days removed from a disastrous start in Atlanta in which he surrendered 10 runs in 3 2/3 innings, Cole entered this afternoon's rematch with something less than the full confidence of a Nationals fan base that was expecting the worst. And when Ozzie Albies drilled Cole's fourth pitch of the game over the out-of-town scoreboard in right-center field for a quick 1-0 lead, those fears certainly looked well-founded.

But to his credit, Cole brushed aside the early blast, buckled down and put together a start that gave his team a chance to win. There was one more mistake pitch - a slider to Suzuki in the top of the fourth that was lifted down the left field line and clanked off the foul pole - but that was all the right-hander surrendered on this day.

Manager Davey Martinez didn't try to push his starter too far; after issuing a one-out walk to Freddie Freeman in the sixth, Cole was pulled in favor of reliever Matt Grace. Cole's final line: two runs and three hits allowed in 5 1/3 innings, a vast improvement from his previous outing.

Cole did his part to give the Nationals a chance. They just couldn't do their part to take a lead before he departed. They managed only one run off journeyman starter Brandon McCarthy, that one coming via Trea Turner's two-out single in the third, bringing Severino home.

McCarthy's day came an abrupt and painful conclusion when he had to reach behind him to catch a throw while covering first base in the bottom of the fifth and immediately grabbed his upper left arm and signaled for a trainer. Turns out McCarthy suffered a subluxation (a partial dislocation) of his shoulder, which had to be popped back into place. He's day-to-day, and certainly quite sore.

The Nationals gave themselves an opportunity to tie the game in the bottom of the seventh, with two on and two out for pinch-hitter Wilmer Difo, who sent a base hit to left field that brought the crowd to its feet. But the lumbering Adams, who began the sequence on second base, was easily thrown out at the plate by left fielder Bourjos (recently inserted for defense) and that quashed the potential rally and left the Nats running out of time to mount another one.