Nationals keep rolling at home, win sixth straight (updated)

The final week of the regular season was supposed to represent a daunting challenge to the Nationals, who assumed all along they were going to have to come up big against a pair of fellow contenders in the Phillies and Indians just to sneak into the playoffs.

The Nationals indeed have come up big this week. They've won six in a row. And because of that, they remain in the driver's seat to host Tuesday's National League wild card game while also sending these two opponents to elimination.

Tonight's 8-2 victory over Cleveland, made possible by six strong innings from Austin Voth, a five-run rally in the sixth led by Asdrúbal Cabrera and Trea Turner, and a lockdown showing form the bullpen, kept the good vibes going on South Capitol Street.

The Nationals are undefeated this week, and at 91-69, their magic number to clinch home field advantage against either the Brewers (89-71) or Cardinals (90-69) is down to one, thanks to Milwaukee's 11-7 loss in Colorado tonight.

If they win Saturday, they are guaranteed to host Tuesday night's game. If they don't, the Brewers still must win straight through Sunday's regular season finale to even have a chance.

"Really proud of them," manager Davey Martinez said. "I've been proud of them all year. It's what I always talk about: I want to keep these guys motivated. I want to keep them going. I want all these guys to get their at-bats and just keep playing good baseball. And they're playing good baseball right now."

That they are. The Nationals, who appeared to be losing some steam when they lost 10 of 16 earlier this month have since won eight of nine, including six in a row to begin this final homestand.

"You know what? I trust this team a lot," Cabrera said. "We've been playing really good all year, (so) this doesn't surprise me. We've got the team to do what we're doing right now."

The Nationals did it tonight with one big rally and then some effective pitching across the board, with Voth's excellent start feeding right into three scoreless innings of relief from Hunter Strickland and Tanner Rainey. The Nats bullpen, by no means cured of its season-long ails, has to its credit over the last 11 games posted a 3.24 ERA with 33 strikeouts and six walks in 33 1/3 innings, holding opponents to a .183 batting average.

Even more effective has been Voth, who when healthy and pitching for the Nationals this season has seized the No. 5 starter's job from the more experienced Joe Ross and Erick Fedde and perhaps a spot in the postseason bullpen. The 27-year-old rookie has shown an ability to get outs when things aren't 100 percent right, such as his last outing in Miami when a cut on his finger rendered his breaking balls useless but he still allowed only one run in five innings.

Tonight, there was nothing wrong with any of his pitches. Voth was in control, especially of his curveball, which became his go-to pitch in big spots. He threw 18 of them in total, 14 of them strikes, including on four of his five strikeouts.

"Even if I fall behind in the counts, I know I can get back throwing my offspeed for strikes," said Voth, who noted his curveball felt particularly good while warming up in the bullpen. "Especially when it's on, it's a good pitch."

Voth wound up perfect in five of the six innings he pitched. The only hiccup: the top of the third, when Greg Allen and Ryan Flaherty hit back-to-back line drives and eventually came around to score. Otherwise, the young righty was dynamite, and might've been set to take the mound for the seventh inning for the first time in 10 big league starts if his spot in the lineup didn't come up at a key moment in the bottom of the sixth.

The Nationals had scored a pair in the bottom of the second thanks to Gerardo Parra's biggest hit in a while. The veteran outfielder, beloved for his ability to come through in the clutch earlier in the summer, had been mired in a 5-for-51 slump. But he singled in his final at-bat Thursday and then carried that over into tonight's game with three straight quality plate appearances. His two-out two-run double gave the Nats a 2-0 lead in the second and gave him his first RBIs since Aug. 12.

Parra would later untie the game, his sacrifice fly in the bottom of the sixth making it 3-2 and setting the stage for the biggest sequence of the night. (He'd cap off his big night with a homer in the eighth, making him 4-for-4 with a sacrifice fly and four RBIs over two games.)

"Happy," he said. "Happy. Couple games I don't feel good at home plate, so I'm so happy because I feel good right now close to the playoffs."

Leading but with a chance to add on, Martinez sent Cabrera to the plate to bat for Voth. The veteran infielder didn't disappoint. He sent a line drive into the right field corner, a two-run double that extended the lead and raised Cabrera's RBI total to 39 in only 37 games since his acquisition off the scrap heap.

"I'm really thankful to the organization for giving me the opportunity to be here, to do my job, Davey to trust me," said Cabrera, who the Nats are paying only $185,000 for his two months of service. "And I'm always going to home plate to do my job, anything I can do to help the team win."

Cleveland manager Terry Francona turned to sidearming righty Adam Cimber to face Turner, and Turner responded with a laser into the left field bleachers. The leadoff man's 19th homer of the year made it 7-2 and moved the Nationals one step closer to hosting Tuesday night's wild card game.

"Obviously, home-field advantage is in play," catcher Kurt Suzuki said. "If we can keep playing good ... yeah, home-field advantage would be great, but I think we just want to play good baseball going into wherever we play. Here, Milwaukee, doesn't matter. We just want to be playing good baseball, and everything will take care of itself."