On emotional day, Nats storm back to beat Yankees (updated)

NEW YORK – As he watched one of his team’s most popular current players fracture his leg Wednesday night and then learned one of the icons of the franchise’s previous generation had finalized plans today to announce his retirement, Davey Martinez tried to stick with the mantra that has defined his six-year tenure as Nationals manager: "Just go 1-0 today."

It’s easy to preach, but much harder to actually do in reality. But on this day, Martinez’s young and growing team found a way to live up to his mantra. With a furious seventh-inning rally that featured several clutch hits from potential future core players, the Nats came back to beat the Yankees, 6-5, and win yet another series.

"I can tell you this team has become one unit," Martinez said before the game. "They play with a lot of heart, with a lot of passion. They're starting to understand how to play for one another, which is great."

Never was that more evident on this getaway afternoon. During Wednesday night’s blowout loss, the Nationals saw outfielder Stone Garrett fracture his left fibula, carted off the field in tears. Then as today’s game was playing out, word came down Stephen Strasburg had made the decision to announce his retirement during the team’s next homestand.

If ever a group had reason for a letdown performance, this was it. But after digging themselves into an early 3-1 hole via Aaron Judge and Gleyber Torres homers off Patrick Corbin, the Nats fought back late to re-take the lead.

The seventh-inning rally was ignited by Carter Kieboom, the recently recalled third baseman who homered Tuesday night on his first major league swing in two years. Kieboom’s double to right-center off Jhony Brito set the tone, but it was Jake Alu’s two-out RBI single three batters later off Tommy Kahnle that ensured the rally would continue.

Alex Call, suddenly thrust back into an everyday role in the wake of Garrett’s injury, then blasted a 90-mph changeup from Kahnle into the visitors’ bullpen in deep left-center as the Nationals dugout erupted, Call’s two-run homer having just given them the lead for the first time today.

"I hit that ball really well, but it's kind of rainy, slightly windy," he said. "Playing out there in center, it feels like you've got forever to run. So when I hit it to left-center, I was like: 'Oh boy, that's not the best place to hit. It better go out of here, or else I'm going to be so mad.' So seeing it go over the fence was great."

And when CJ Abrams capped a subsequent seven-pitch at-bat with a towering homer to right, flipping his bat back toward the dugout, the boos from the Yankee Stadium crowd reached a crescendo. (Martinez, for what it’s worth, put his arm around his young shortstop after he rounded the bases and appeared to scold him for what he may have deemed an excessive display of celebration.)

"I was hyped," Abrams said. "Looked at the dugout, trying to get the team, give everybody positive vibes. I fed off Alex's home run. Just keep the positive vibes going."

That four-run rally gave the Nationals the lead, a lead made possible because Patrick Corbin was able to limit the early damage he surrendered and get the game to the back of the bullpen with a chance to win.

Corbin surrendered two early homers, with Judge taking him deep in the bottom of the first for his fourth homer in five at-bats over the last 24 hours, then Torres lining a ball just deep enough over the short wall in left field for a two-run shot in the third.

Corbin, though, didn’t give up anything else. Aided by some poor New York fundamentals, he escaped a second-inning jam with a pair of outs on the bases. He retired five in a row in the third and fourth innings, induced a double play to get out of the fifth and then posted another zero in the sixth to wind up with a quality start.

"I stayed on the corners, got some chases when I needed to, made some pitches, got that big double play there in that one inning," he said. "Overall, to give up three here and keep us in the game here, maybe just one swing away from getting back in it ... which we were able to do."

Indeed, and once his team took the lead, Martinez turned to one of his top relievers for the bottom of the seventh, asking Hunter Harvey to face the top of the Yankees lineup. Harvey responded with a zero, getting Judge to fly out and then striking out Torres.

Jordan Weems opened the eighth allowing a homer to Giancarlo Stanton and then allowed a two-out double to Everson Pereira, prompting Martinez to summon Kyle Finnegan for what would have to be a four-out save. Finnegan responded by striking out Jake Bauers looking at a 3-2 splitter, then gave up a run in the ninth but got Harrison Bader to fly out to the warning track in center to secure his 23rd save, not to mention the Nationals’ fourth consecutive series win and sixth in their last seven.

"That was a gut-check outing for me," Finnegan said. "Every out you get is momentum into the next one. ... I was just trying to throw the ball over the plate and give us a chance. And that last out of the game, he crushed it, just not far enough."

No matter what forces seem to transpire against them, this team keeps finding a way to live up to its manager’s mantra and make him proud.

"Resilient, that's what these guys are," Martinez said. "The fact that what happened yesterday with Stone, and to come back and do what we did today – and come back the way we did – it says a lot about these boys and what they think of their teammates. I know they really wanted to win today, and I think it was more for their teammate. It was a great win."