Despite landmines, Nats surviving early NL East gauntlet

PHILADELPHIA - It was well past 11 p.m. and inside the Nationals clubhouse players were still coming down from the high they had just experienced during a dramatic, come-from-behind 10-6 victory over the Phillies. Their manager seemed to be on the verge of tearing up as he praised his team for battling through a wild ballgame to emerge victorious. The players had let out a huge roar after holding a postgame "cabbage race" that continued a tradition started in spring training.

Over by his locker at one end of the room, Sean Doolittle looked exhausted. A good kind of exhausted, but not the kind of exhausted you expect after a game played on April 9.

Then again, the first two weeks of this season, with twists and turns and high drama, have felt like they took place much later than early April. These games have felt like September or even October.

"Totally," Doolittle said. "The number of close games we've played in already, maybe because they're division games, but I think we're seeing how evenly matched these teams are in the NL East and what kind of summer it's going to be. Each win feels maybe a little more important than in years past. There is a little bit more of a sense of urgency and a little bit more energy to early season games."

If there's no other takeaway from the season's first two weeks, it is this indisputable fact: The National League East race is going to be something.

Four teams are all-in trying to win now. And at this point, four teams sit at .500 or better, with the Phillies (7-3), Braves (7-4), Mets (6-4) and Nationals (5-5) all within two games of each other.

The Nationals, though, have had it tougher to date than any of their rivals. Because all 10 games they've played have come against fellow NL East contenders (the Mets and Phillies). Everyone else has had at least one breather of a series against either the Marlins or a club from another division.

And that has created extra tension and drama for the Nationals, who have played nothing but high-stress games so far in 2019.

"Coming here and playing the games like this, it's fun. It's a lot of fun," manager Davey Martinez said. "We've got a whole year of this, so let's keep it going."

Can the hearts of the Nationals and their fans survive a whole year of this, though? Thankfully they won't have to experience 162 games with this level of intensity. Once the Nats close out their series with the Phillies tonight, they'll head home to face a couple of less-imposing foes in the Pirates and Giants before heading back on the road to play the forever rebuilding Marlins.

You learn a thing or two about a ballclub during a stretch like this. Yes, you learn some negative things, like the Nationals' bullpen is a hot mess and their defensive play leaves much still be desired. But you also learn some positive things, like this team's resiliency even when things haven't gone according to plan.

Within the 10 games they've played so far, the Nationals already have ...

* Twice won in walk-off fashion in the bottom of the ninth
* Rallied to take a lead in the bottom of the eighth
* Trailed by two runs late and advanced the tying run to scoring position in the ninth inning
* Trailed by five runs late and advanced the tying run to scoring position in the ninth inning
* Trailed by five runs late and come back to win

"We are all in this together," said Stephen Strasburg, who needed his bullpen to churn out six scoreless innings Tuesday after he lasted only four. "When one guy doesn't get the job done, there's another guy that's going to step up and pick up the slack, and I think that's what good teams need to have."

Good teams also need selflessness from the entire roster. And that was on display Tuesday night as well, with Joe Ross, Matt Grace and Doolittle all pitching multiple innings in relief.

"You can't have an ego in the bullpen," said Doolittle, who already has been asked to record four or more outs three times this season. "At the end of the day, we're a group. We're only as good as the sum of our parts. Whatever you're called on to do that day, you've got to be willing to do it for the boys."

This is what it may take for the Nationals to navigate their way through the minefield that is the NL East in 2019. They've made it through their first 10 games with a .500 record despite all manner of catastrophe trying to get in the way.

Along the way, they may have learned something about themselves.

"The team looks amazing," Juan Soto said. "Right now, everybody fights. Go out and have fun. That's one of the most important things: You go out and have fun, and that's a good thing."