After clutch hits, exhausted Nats bullpen takes loss (updated)

After getting an abbreviated start from Max Scherzer, yet another clutch hit from Gerardo Parra, a tack-on homer from Matt Adams and six outs from Tanner Rainey, Tony Sipp and Wander Suero, Davey Martinez reached the top of the ninth this evening with the Nationals holding a one-run lead over the Rockies. But now the second-year manager had to answer the most pressing question of the day: Who was going to pitch the ninth?

This isn't a difficult question the vast majority of the time. Sean Doolittle is the man. Except when he just saved both ends of the previous day's doubleheader.

Doolittle had informed his manager before the game he was unavailable. So Martinez had to look at Option B: Fernando Rodney, who also pitched both ends of Wednesday's doubleheader. Rodney is 42, with tons of mileage on his right arm. But he hardly ever says he can't pitch. He always wants the ball, no matter the workload.

"I don't like to say no," the ageless reliever said. "You never know what's going to happen."

Martinez could've put his foot down and forced Rodney to take the day off. But then he would've had to turn to Option C: a four-out save from Suero, who finished the eighth with only three pitches but was appearing for the third straight day himself.

"He was more or less an emergency guy today," Martinez said. "For him to go out there and face two hitters, that was asking a lot for him."

What was Option D? Javy Guerra or Michael Blazek. Those weren't options for the ninth inning of a one-run game.

So Martinez circled back to Option B and decided to trust Rodney to get the job done in his third appearance in 27 hours. It didn't work out. Rodney served up a leadoff homer to Ian Desmond to tie the game, then later in the inning watched as Daniel Murphy legged out a slow roller to third to avoid an inning-ending double play and allow the go-ahead run to score in what wound up an agonizing, 8-7 loss for the Nationals.

"We had no Doolittle," Martinez said. "We talked to Rodney before the game, and he said he can close the game out. So that's what we had."

That's indeed what the Nationals had at the end of their fourth game in 48 hours. They used up everything they had to win the first three games of this series. By the time the end of the series finale arrived, none of their remaining options was ideal. And so they were left to accept one loss of a winnable game in exchange for the three wins that preceded it.

The Nationals put themselves in position to sweep this series, thanks to the late heroics of Parra (whose pinch-hit, two-run double tied the game in sixth). They did it thanks to Trea Turner's subsequent go-ahead single. They did it thanks to Adams' tack-on homer in the seventh off a lefty.

And they did it thanks to the piecemeal efforts of the rest of the available bullpen to get through the seventh and eighth with the lead still intact.

But then in came Rodney, pitching for the third time in two days for the first time in his career. He quickly served up a leadoff homer to Desmond to blow the save and leave the game tied.

"I think he hit a good pitch," Rodney said of his 1-2 slider at the knees. "There's nothing to complain about."

Four batters later, with runners on the corners and one out, another old pal (Murphy) hoofed it down the line to avoid an inning-ending, 5-4-3 double play. The go-ahead run scored, and the Nationals were left needing to rally again in the bottom of the ninth.

"I've known Fernando for a long time," said Martinez, who coached him with the Rays and Cubs. "He's throwing 94-95 mph. If he starts throwing 89-90, I get worried. Today he gave up a slider home run, but he got what could have been a double play ball. Wasn't hit hard enough by Murph."

Some 3 hours, 46 minutes hours earlier, Scherzer took the mound for the first time in 19 days looking like his usual self during a dominant first inning that saw him retire the side and strike out All-Stars Charlie Blackmon and David Dahl. But this was no typical outing for the ace, and that much became clear as the afternoon progressed.

Scherzer kept the game scoreless through three, albeit with an elevated pitch count. Then he gave up three hits in the fourth, capped by Garrett Hampson's two-run blast to left-center. The Rockies led 3-0 and Scherzer had allowed three runs in a start for the first time since May 19.

He got through a clean fifth, but after a dugout conversation with Martinez and director of athletic training Paul Lessard, Scherzer was done and Andrew Stevenson was at the plate pinch-hitting for him. Scherzer looked none too pleased after failing to reach the sixth inning for the first time since April 2, his pitch count a mere 86, but he knew that was the plan going in.

"I knew exactly coming in, that's exactly how it was going to play out," he said. "Look, we're down three runs, my spot's up, (86) pitches. You knew that's what was going to happen. It is what it is."

Whatever the case, Scherzer departed with the Nationals trailing 3-0 and needing four innings from their overtaxed bullpen.

First, though, they needed to score for the first time all day. They finally did that, thanks to their most reliable hitter. Anthony Rendon stepped to the plate with two on and one out in the fifth, having seen his team go 0-for-19 with runners in scoring position over the previous 20 innings, and immediately ended that slump. His three-run blast off Jeff Hoffman tied the game in an instant and got Scherzer off the hook for the loss.

Matt Grace, however, put the Nationals back in a hole. The left-hander continued his agonizing summer with his eighth home run surrendered in only 39 innings, his first ever surrendered to a lefty batter. Ryan McMahon's two-run shot gave the Rockies a 5-3 lead and again put the onus on the Nats to produce a rally.

They would rally. But they would also watch things unravel in the ninth as their overworked bullpen finally reached its limit and broke down. It was frustrating to watch, but there wasn't much that could be done at that point.

"It's 3-3, and we have a chance to win the game," Martinez said. "We come back, we go ahead. You try to win the game at hand. I'm not worried about tomorrow until tomorrow."