Solís, Kelley, Madson finish off another close win for Nats

PHOENIX - Much as he wants to hand the ball to Brandon Kintzler, Ryan Madson and Sean Doolittle every chance he gets while holding a slim lead late in games, Davey Martinez knows those three elite relievers won't make it to September if he keeps calling their names over and over and over.

No, there are five other relievers sitting in that bullpen every night, and sometimes they have to be the ones to take the mound in the seventh, eighth and ninth innings and try to secure a victory for the Nationals.

"I tell these guys all the time: I trust them," Martinez said. "In big moments, they've got to come in and get these guys out."

Today, with both Kintzler and Doolittle unavailable after pitching the last two nights, and with Madson being saved for the bottom of the ninth, Martinez turned to Sammy Solís and Shawn Kelley to record four critical outs against the heart of a good Diamondbacks lineup. And when it was all said and done, those four outs proved the difference in the Nationals' 2-1 win, their third straight over the team with the best record in the National League.

And in the process, perhaps Solís and Kelley earned just a little bit more of their manager's trust to be used again in similar situations down the road.

"It's all just going to help everybody else out," Kelley said. "Obviously, with me being (on the disabled list) a little bit, then early we played a lot of close games, a lot of those guys have been taxed. The more that I can chip in and let them have confidence to use me in those, the more those guys can have days off."

It had been a while since Kelley got an opportunity to pitch in a situation like that. The club's primary setup man in 2016 has seen his role reduced over the last year and a half, during which time he has battled injuries and poor results. Only one of his nine appearances to date this season had come with the Nationals leading, and that came with a five-run lead.

But when the time came to face Paul Goldschmidt, A.J. Pollock and Steven Souza Jr. in the bottom of the eighth today, Martinez didn't hesitate to call for the 34-year-old right-hander.

"Veteran guy. He's done it before," the manager said. "I thought it was a good matchup. Did I think he was going to throw 93 (mph)? No, but I thought his slider was going to be (good). He was fired up."

Kelley indeed was fired up, so much so that his fastball (which had been averaging 92.5 mph) went up nearly a full mph to an average of 93.4 mph, topping out at 94.9 mph.

And though he walked Goldschmidt to put himself in a bit of a jam, Kelley responded by getting Pollock to fly out to center, then striking out Souza looking at one of those 94 mph fastballs at the knees. (Souza, upset with the borderline call, flung his bat into fair territory down the third base line and immediately was ejected by plate umpire Doug Eddings.)

"Last year, I was reaching back, and there was nothing there," Kelley said. "So to reach back and get a little zip on it ... and it doesn't always have to be the radar gun. Usually, I can tell. So that was good. I was getting some later swings, so I knew it had some jump on it."

Having successfully navigated the game into the ninth inning with Solís and Kelley picking up where Stephen Strasburg (one run allowed in 6 2/3 innings) left off, Martinez then turned to Madson for only his third save opportunity of the season. The 37-year-old has found a comfort zone pitching the eighth and setting up Doolittle, but he knows he's going to be called upon for the ninth every once in a while, and he has found a method for preparing himself for the assignment.

"If I'm not doing it regularly, yeah, there's a different emotional vibe to it," he said. "Just have to calm yourself down as it's building through the seventh, the eighth innings. But there's also a sense of security knowing: 'Hey, I'm just trying to get his job done today.' It takes a lot of the pressure off me. At least, I framed it that way: 'Hey, I'm just giving it a try today. This is just a bonus.' That's kind of how I approached it."

Madson had to pitch out of a slight jam himself when Wilmer Difo booted Ketel Marte's leadoff grounder to second, but he responded in kind. After Nick Ahmed sacrificed Marte to second to put the tying runner in scoring position, Madson reached back and struck out John Ryan Murphy on a 97 mph fastball, then got Jarrod Dyson to ground to first base, end the game and secure the Nationals' 12th win in 14 games.

The last three wins over Arizona have come by scores of 2-1, 3-1 and 2-1. That's only possible with good starting pitching and then lockdown work from not only the three guys at the back end of the bullpen but the others who watch the game alongside them and step in when needed.

"That's what I think this team is capable of doing," Kelley said. "We can blow teams out when we need to, but we can also win the close one when things are right. Just feels like we're getting back to what we do. And hopefully it'll take a little pressure off the hitters to know: 'Hey, we can hold this team a little bit, so go out there and smack some homers!' "