Danny Espinosa fighting for playing time anywhere on the field

Nationals manager Matt Williams told reporters after yesterday's 5-4 win that he had to figure a way to keep Danny Espinosa's bat in the lineup. His saying that is understandable after the six-year veteran went 3-for-5 with a homer, a double, a RBI and two runs scored. His eight home runs are secon- best on the Nationals as is his .842 OPS.

But Espinosa is seemingly the odd man out of the Nats infield with Anthony Rendon's return. Williams could experiment with Espinosa in left field. The 28-year-old was forced into emergency duty out there for two innings this past Sunday when Denard Span exited with back spasms. It isn't the first time this season that Williams has leaned on Espinosa's versatility. Prior to this year, Espinosa had never played third base, but near the end of spring training, Williams moved him over there. And this season, Espinosa has logged 55 innings at third, with four starts.

Six of Espinosa's eight homers have come from the left side against right-handed pitching where he is slashing .235/.341./.454. From the right side of the box against lefties, Espinosa raises to .353/.436./.588. In his last 10 games, Espinosa is batting .313 with two homers, three doubles, four RBIs and six runs scored. Williams knows his ball club needs offense right now and he has proven to be supremely confident in Espinosa's defensive abilities.

Since Jayson Werth landed on the disabled list with a fractured left wrist, the Nats have used a platoon of Michael A. Taylor, Tyler Moore and Clint Robinson in left field. Moore and Robinson are naturally first baseman and could find their playing time increased at the position if Ryan Zimmerman is forced to rest his ailing foot for an extended period. If so, expect Espinosa to definitely join the rotation in left field.

As far as Taylor, the 22-year-old once again seized the moment yesterday with a game-tying two-run homer in the eighth inning. All five of Taylor's home runs this season have either tied the game or given the Nats the lead. Two - a ninth-inning grand slam in Arizona and yesterday's two-run blast - have come when Taylor has entered the game late.

"Just trying to put the barrel on the ball," Taylor told reporters after the win. "In a situation like that, it's easy to try to do too much and end up popping up or getting into a spot that you don't want to be in. It's something I've been working on ... just trying to put the barrel on the ball. Just trying to stay short and getting something to hit."

The focus for Taylor has been keeping his strikeouts down. He has 50 in 128 at-bats this season, but he has also delivered 11 extra-base hits and shown some dynamic play in the outfield.

"He's just unbelievable," Gio Gonzalez said to reporters. "He's fun to watch. He just runs into a lot of pitches out over the plate and he's capitalizing. It's just a guy (that is) an up-and-coming star. He's gonna be fun to watch for the next couple years. What he is doing now is playing a role that's coming off the bench here and there and stepping it up when he needs it."

Taylor has started 19 games this season for Span in center field. Span's hustle up the first base line in the top of the 11th yesterday allowed Moore to cross the plate for the eventual game-winning run. The gritty play from the 31-year-old was exactly what the reeling Nationals needed, especially in the midst of an eight-game road trip.

"Right about now, any win we'll take," Span said on MASN's "Nats Xtra". "Wins have been hard to come by lately. We're banged up but we gotta just keep going, keep grinding and just try to play Nats baseball as best as possible."