Contributions abound in come-from-behind win by Nationals

It's generally not a manager's preference to summon his bullpen two batters into the fourth inning. Nor is that generally a surefire path to victory.

Let's just say Dusty Baker and the Nationals were feeling fortunate to emerge from tonight's nailbiter against the Braves with a 9-7 come-from-behind victory that did not come easily for the home team.

"You got to believe and think it, and everyone on the bench was believing it," Baker said. "The power of positive thinking goes a long way, especially in this game."

It took more than positive thinking to pull off this win. It took six near-perfect innings of relief from seven relievers. It took Anthony Rendon's first career grand slam homer. It took Ryan Zimmerman's best swing in some time, resulting in another homer.

And it took a three-run rally in the bottom of the eighth that featured only one actual hit - Trea Turner's two-run single - but included a couple of walks, some aggressive baserunning and a well-placed bunt by Ben Revere that made the go-ahead run possible.

Let's start with the work of the Nationals bullpen, which was pressed into early service after Gio Gonzalez lasted only three innings, giving up six runs on eight hits to the 16 batters he faced.

"It's unfortunate, and it's just going to happen," Gonzalez said. "It's not going to be my first or my last. I was just grateful to have offense tonight, and the bullpen kept us in the game. That's basically this game in a nutshell."

Matt Belisle was the first man in from the bullpen, and though the veteran let two inherited runners score, he retired three of the four batters he faced to get through the fourth inning and then hand things off to the next man up.

That was Sean Burnett, who retired one batter and then gave the ball to Blake Treinen. Who retired five batters and then gave the ball to Shawn Kelley. Who retired three batters and then gave the ball to Oliver Perez. Who retired the fearsome Freddie Freeman and then gave the ball to Koda Glover. Who retired two batters and then gave the ball to Mark Melancon. Who did give up a run in the ninth but nonetheless finished off the victory to record his 39th save overall and ninth in as many tries since joining the Nationals.

"You've got to match up early, then you've got to save some for later," Baker said. "And then if you don't have a couple of left-handers for Freddie Freeman and some of those guys that can really do some damage and hurt you ... You've got to save somebody for the end, and hope that there is an end."

There was an end because the Nationals lineup managed to score enough runs to win this slugfest.

It began in the bottom of the third, when Rendon blasted an 0-2 pitch from Williams Perez to left for the first grand slam of his professional career.

"Just try to drive the ball," said Rendon, who is now batting .315 with 17 doubles, eight homers and 36 RBIs in 45 games since the All-Star break. "Obviously hit the ball to the outfield, try to get a sacrifice fly, get a hit. I'm just trying to put the barrel on the ball."

Zimmerman followed two batters later with a solo homer to right-center, an encouraging sign for the veteran first baseman trying to snap out of a season-long funk.

"I've been feeling good for the last few days, just getting back into it and getting some at-bats," Zimmerman said. "I've just got to keep going, man. We've got about 25 games or so left here, and obviously, hopefully some more after that. I've just got to keep working and try to find it. The last few days I've started to feel pretty good."

Those two blasts left the game tied at 6-6. It remained that way until the bottom of the eighth, when Zimmerman and Danny Espinosa drew walks to lead off the inning. Baker sent up Revere to pinch-hit and attempt a sacrifice bunt, which the benched leadoff man did flawlessly, forcing catcher Tyler Flowers to airmail his throw to third and let the go-ahead run score.

Moments later, Turner delivered the final blow: a two-run single to left that expanded the Nationals' lead to 9-6 and provided Melancon some cushion to close out a wild ballgame in which the lineup and bullpen had to overcome a shaky start.

"That's what we're supposed to do," Rendon said. "We're supposed to pick each other up. If our pitchers go out there and struggle, we've got to score runs for them. And there's been plenty of times where we've only scored one run or haven't scored any runs, and they've shut the other team down. So it's a give and take."