Magnificent pitching helps Nats survive cliffhangers

The Nationals clubhouse was quiet last Sunday night as the players packed up having just been easily swept by the Marlins. It wasn't the start anyone expected from a Nats team that was focused on the 10-day excursion against three National League East opponents as a way to fix the surprising mistakes of the early season. Seven days later, after displaying tremendous fortitude in Atlanta, the Nationals finished the road trip, celebrating with blaring beats among a smoke-filled locker room after just taking three of four from the Mets to pull within four of the division lead.

"It's the fun part about this game is you get to walk away from one series pretty frustrated, but we left it there, fortunately, and came back here to some cold weather and kinda changed our ways a little bit," closer Drew Storen said. "It comes back to the starting pitching and what we've done here in the last couple days and it was catapulted by our bats in Atlanta. So it's been a good team effort."

Storen was lights out on the road. He picked up three saves, all in nail-biting one-run games, where he shut the door without allowing a baserunner. Overall, he pitched five scoreless innings, allowing just two hits and a walk with four strikeouts on the trip.

"It's been a little slim pickings for him early, but the more he gets in, the better rhythm he has," manager Matt Williams said of Storen.

In many ways, the second half of the trek allowed Williams some clarity in the back end of his bullpen, which had been shaky throughout most of April. Following masterful performances from lefty Gio Gonzalez on Saturday and right-hander Doug Fister yesterday, Williams has looked to Aaron Barrett to negotiate some high-leverage situations and the right-hander has delivered.

"You saw that a lot last year. I mean, he's built for those situations," Storen said of Barrett. "He's a high-pressure guy. He's got swing-and-miss stuff. He's also has the ability to get soft contact when he needs it. He's got the presence out there. He's out there fired up. He's a high-energy guy. He's fit really well for this club."

The 27-year-old Barrett inherited runners at second and third with two outs in the eighth yesterday with Mets cleanup hitter Michael Cuddyer at the plate. On the road, in front of 41,000-plus fans at Citi Field, Barrett calmly ended the threat by getting Cuddyer to bite on one of his filthy sliders.

"He's working hard," shortstop Ian Desmond said. "He's relying a lot on the veteran guys in the bullpen. He's learning. He's absorbing. He's going out there and performing. It's fun to watch. He's got a lot of energy out there. He's a blossoming star, I think."

Barrett has only allowed two earned runs in 11 1/3 innings in his team-high 14 appearances.

"That's what we need as a bullpen is guys kinda starting to settle into their roles a little bit in these tight games," Storen said. "It's up to us to kinda not screw up what the starters are doing right now."

It took nearly a month, but the Nationals' starting rotation seems to be in a dangerous groove for opposing hitters. From right-hander Jordan Zimmermann's start in Atlanta last Wednesday to Fister's yesterday, the Nats' five starters allowed only five earned runs in 32 2/3 innings. Good night. That is what was expected of this ultra-talented staff.

"They've been great," first baseman Ryan Zimmerman said. "They're obviously the backbone of this team, and they have been for the last few years, and you can't really go anywhere without good starting pitching. Those guys are great and they're going to be great all year. Once we start scoring some more runs for them, it'll be even better."

Fister's 6 1/3 scoreless innings against the Mets helped the Nats head back to D.C., four games back from the division lead and, more importantly, with a renewed confidence as the weather heats up.

"I think it shows each one of us the confidence that we need to roll on and get some momentum going," Fister said. "And I think that's where we're at. We do have the versatility. We've got a lot of guys that are swinging a hot bat, a lot of guys playing great defense and pitchers on the mound getting the job done. Obviously, right now, we're feeling pretty good and taking this home. We're in the right spot."