Nats score six in ninth to stun A's, sweep series (updated)

When Jeter Downs stepped to the plate to lead off the bottom of the ninth this afternoon, he had no realistic reason to believe he was about to jumpstart a game-winning rally.

The Nationals trailed the Athletics by five runs, having slogged their way through a mostly lifeless series finale that saw Trevor Williams get roughed up again while their lineup failed to deliver with runners in scoring position again. They would just have to accept a Sunday loss to Oakland but a weekend series victory.

But in the dugout, Dominic Smith was trying to keep his teammates engaged, no matter the score. “We’ve got three outs,” the first baseman told them. “Don’t give any at-bats away. They all matter.”

So by the time Downs somehow found himself stepping back to the plate some 25 minutes later, now with a chance to drive in the winning run, the young infielder had every reason in the world to believe he and his team were actually going to pull this thing off.

And when he delivered the final hit to cap a stunning, six-run rally, Downs could only soak in the moment as teammates mobbed him in the middle of the diamond following the most inexplicable, 8-7 victory most of them had ever experienced.

“The way it all ended, that’s why we play this game,” the seldom-used, 25-year-old said. “You don’t ever think about something happening like that, especially down five in the ninth. It still feels surreal at this point.”

Here’s something else that feels surreal right now: The Nationals are playing winning baseball. A lot of it. They’ve now gone 19-12 since July 8, the best record in the National League East and third-best record in the NL. They’ve swept three series in a month after going more than two years without sweeping any series.

“This team has been relentless,” said manager Davey Martinez, who was nearly moved to tears during his postgame press conference. “They play hard. They don’t give up. We talk about playing hard for 27 outs, and it shows. You can see it. We’re never out of it.”

OK, maybe in theory they were never out of this one. But ask anyone who watched the first 8 1/2 innings of today’s game if a last-ditch rally was plausible, and you’d have found few true believers.

They slogged their way through a lifeless series finale against the majors’ worst team. They got another rough start from Trevor Williams, who gave up three more homers and didn’t complete five innings, putting added strain on their bullpen. They failed to deliver with runners in scoring position, continuing a weekend-long theme. And they trailed 7-2, with the last man on their bench set to lead off the bottom of the ninth.

Downs had only entered the game one inning earlier, with Martinez giving starting shortstop CJ Abrams (who was dealing with back spasms) a breather at the end of what looked like a lopsided loss. This actually qualified as a rare opportunity to play for Downs, who has been buried on the bench throughout his two stints in D.C. this season and was hitless in four previous plate appearances after hitting .175 at Triple-A Rochester.

But Downs, the onetime top prospect of the Dodgers and Red Sox, showed impressive poise and patience in his leadoff at-bat against A’s closer Trevor May, drawing a six-pitch walk.

That would become a recurring theme for the entire rally as one by one the Nationals stepped to the plate, worked the count and mostly did something productive.

Lane Thomas popped out to short for the first out, but Joey Meneses singled to left and Keibert Ruiz singled to right to load the bases for Stone Garrett, the one hitter in the lineup who actually had been producing all day. Garrett, who drove in the team’s first two runs off lefties, now delivered an RBI single off the right-handed May.

“It shows the team is just willing to put the ball in play,” Garrett said, “and give it to the guy behind them.”

Ildemaro Vargas drove in the second run with a sacrifice fly to center, though that represented the second out, the Nationals still trailing by three runs at that point, with no more margin for error. But when Riley Adams drew a five-pitch walk to load the bases, suddenly here came Smith to pinch-hit for Michael Chavis representing the winning run.

Facing left-hander Kirby Snead, who got him to ground out during Saturday night’s game, Smith this time drew a clutch, six-pitch walk, taking ball four just beyond the outside corner to force home the inning’s third run.

“I kind of got myself out in that at-bat, so I wanted to really be selective in what I swung at,” Smith said, referencing Saturday’s at-bat against Snead. “He made some close pitches, and I didn’t really budge or give in. That’s what the game’s about. He wanted to make his best pitches in that moment, and I was able to lay off of them.”

Next up was Alex Call, the Nationals still trailing by two runs with two outs in the inning. And when Call hit a grounder up the middle, it looked like the game would be over. Then shortstop Nick Allen, a late defensive replacement for the A’s, booted the ball, which trickled into shallow center field as two runs scored to inexplicably leave this game tied and inexplicably bring Downs back to the plate for his second at-bat of the inning.

This was yet another quality at-bat, Downs battling to a full count, fouling off Snead’s first 3-2 offering, then getting enough wood on his subsequent slider in off the plate. The ball floated in Allen’s general direction but cleared the shortstop’s last-hope leaping attempt with plenty of room to spare as Smith scampered home from third and everyone else poured out of the dugout to congratulate Downs on his long-awaited first hit as a National.

“They had a mound visit, and the crowd was going crazy,” Downs said. “So I just took that moment to take a deep breath, take it all in. It was a pretty cool moment.”

Pretty cool for Downs. Pretty cool for the suddenly surging Nationals. Pretty cool for anyone else who stuck it out and never stopped believing, no matter how dire things looked 25 minutes earlier when Downs first stepped to the plate with his team trailing by five runs.