A five-run rally that might change the course of the NLDS

He had watched this lineup score runs in bunches all season long, overcoming injuries and ever-changing configurations to produce as well as just about any lineup in the majors. But 16 innings into the National League Division Series, Dusty Baker's Nationals had done nothing at the plate against the Cubs.

Nothing. Nada. Squat. Bupkis.

Yes, Anthony Rendon had homered in the bottom of the first in Game 2, but that opposite-field shot looked like a lazy fly ball off the bat and somehow got caught in an unseasonable jet stream on South Capitol Street. And that surprise homer stood as the Nationals' lone run of the series through 16 innings, much their manager's shock.

"I was kind of bewildered," Baker said. "Because there's not too many teams or pitchers that have held us in check like that for a couple days. I just knew in the bottom of my heart that we were going to explode for some numbers, which we've done all year."

The 68-year-old skipper might have felt that way. But how many among the sellout crowd of 43,860 did as well? Be honest, now.

Sometimes, though, just a little bit of confidence goes a long way. And a little opposite-field single from a veteran pinch-hitter making the first postseason appearance of a long career doesn't hurt, either.

The Nationals' rousing 6-3 victory over the Cubs will long be remembered for the two blasts by the two big boys - Bryce Harper and Ryan Zimmerman - and they'll get their appropriate due in just a moment. But as everybody wearing a curly W cap went out of their way to point out postgame, none of this would have been possible without Adam Lind's leadoff single.

"He's been great for us all year long," Harper said of Lind. "He can get out of bed and get a knock. And to be able to get a knock there against one of the best in baseball was huge."

Lind, the 34-year-old lifelong professional hitter who had stepped to the plate 5,029 times in a major league game without ever getting a sniff of the postseason, was pinch-hitting for Oliver Pérez and facing right-hander Carl Edwards Jr. He fell behind in the count 0-2, but that hasn't been a problem for him this season. He got a fastball down and in, and promptly sliced it down the left field line for the single that got the Nats rolling at long last.

"I just tried to keep it like it was a normal game," Lind said. "Go down (to the batting tunnel) in the fifth ... and kept my same routine. Sounds a little weird, actually: Routine is easier now than it was in September. We only have six bench guys, as opposed to 10 bench guys. You know, we all know our roles, and we know how it works down there."

Lind also knows his role is not to run the bases once he gets on. So after his leadoff single, he happily swapped places with Victor Robles, the 20-year-old rookie speedster who was included on the NLDS roster in part because of his potential for impacting games on the base paths.

Robles, in the end, had the best seat in the house for what happened two batters later. After Trea Turner struck out for the fourth time in eight at-bats this series, Harper strode to the plate, the already-standing crowd now roaring and pleading with the star slugger to come through with his team down 3-1.

Joe Maddon had Mike Montgomery warming in his bullpen, and conventional baseball wisdom dictated that the Cubs manager bring in the lefty to face Harper. But Edwards has dominated left-handed batters all season, holding them to a .119 batting average and .193 slugging percentage. So Maddon stuck with the righty.

"That was the only option," Maddon said. "That was the right option. C.J. was the right man for the job. Harper is good. C.J. is really good."

In this instance, though, Harper was better. Much better. After working the count to 3-1, his eyes lit up as he detected a hanging curveball from Edwards and knew what needed to happen next.

"You know, I thought to myself: Runner on first, didn't think he was going to throw a pitch over the plate, to tell you the truth," Harper said. "I thought he was going to throw a curveball back down in the dirt. I thought about taking the whole way. And then I saw the loop in the curveball and said: 'Why not swing as hard as you can?' "

Why not, indeed. The ball cracked off Harper's bat with a sound all too familiar to those who have watched him throughout his baseball life but wholly unfamiliar to anyone who had watched his first 25 at-bats since returning from the disabled list. He had not yet so much as pulled a fly ball to right field. He did much more than that this time.

The ball soared down the line, and well before it landed near the top of the second deck, the park had already erupted and Harper had already flung his bat toward a jubilant dugout.

"At first I was like: 'Damn, I hope that's fair,' " Turner said. "Because from the dugout you can't always tell right away. But I knew that had the distance. Whether or not it was going to be fair was my question. And it definitely was fair."

It was the latest big-time homer from Harper in a big-time spot, adding to his growing legacy as a star player who has a knack for rising to the occasion.

"I don't know what gene he has," Gio Gonzalez said. "But he has the clutch gene. He has every gene. He's got Ralph Lauren jeans. Whatever gene you wanna call it. He's got every gene you can think of. He's just unreal."

Harper's homer, big as it was, merely tied the game 3-3. The Nationals still needed to continue the rally, and they did just that in rapid fire. Edwards, perhaps rattled by what just happened, walked Rendon, then was pulled in favor of Montgomery.

The lefty came in to face Daniel Murphy, who kept the line moving with an opposite-field single of his own. That brought Zimmerman to the plate, and though this series had been a struggle so far for the veteran - he was 1-for-7 - he was now in a favorable matchup against Montgomery. And when he got an 0-1 pitch over the plate, he sent the ball on a high arc to left field that left everybody holding their breath.

Ben Zobrist casually tracked back to the wall, thinking he might be able to camp under it, but the ball kept carrying just enough. And when it finally came down, it did so in the red flower bed just beyond the fence, just enough for the three-run homer that gave the Nationals the lead and gave the ballpark reason to explode in a manner not felt in these parts since Jayson Werth's walk-off homer in Game 4 of the 2012 NLDS.

"I knew I hit it pretty good," Zimmerman said. "But I hit it really high."

Thus began a joyous trip around the bases, something Zimmerman has done 254 times in his big league career, many of them in big moments, but none of them matching this one in importance. The guy who was this organization's first draft pick in its first season in D.C., who had experienced six straight losing seasons, then six straight winning seasons, then plenty of postseason heartache, had it all culminate in this moment

"I couldn't tell you anything about that run around the bases," he said. "I think, obviously, this franchise over the past five years has changed a lot. We used to lose 90 games every year, and now we're expected to win 90 games. And if we're not successful in the postseason, it's a failed season.

"I think we all enjoy that pressure. We want it. It's just been fun to be around and be a part of it. Tonight was a special game."