Michael A. Taylor comes through in clutch once again

By Josh Land

Nationals

September 04, 2015, 8:41pm

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Calm, cool and collected, rookie Michael A. Taylor stepped into the batter's box at Nationals Park for his first at-bat of the game, coming in the 10th inning of a 2-2 game.

While the Nationals had jumped out to an early lead in the first thanks to a home run by Bryce Harper, the Braves battled back to tie the game in the second and eventually grab a 2-1 lead in the eighth.

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Down to the last out in the ninth, Matt den Dekker roped an RBI single to center field, knotting the game at 2-2. And then to extras we went.

Red-hot hitters Harper and Ryan Zimmerman hit back-to-back singles in the 10th, putting runners on the corners and the winning run on third base with no outs. And up stepped Taylor.

Coming into Friday evening's contest, Taylor ranked 14th in the National League in average with runners in scoring position at .337.

However, with a sore knee, he was not penciled in Friay's starting lineup, although he told reporters before the game, "I'm ready to play right now."

And he wasn't kidding. While he could have followed suit with a single into the outfield to give the Nats the curly W, Taylor went the dramatic route.