Nats expect momentum to follow emotional win

ATLANTA - The Nationals have underachieved, without question, in the first month of the season. Grand talks of running away with the National League East have turned to grumblings of early changes. So it's easy to point at last night's dramatic comeback and assume it will be the wake-up call for the baseball gods to reclear the path to October.

"Yeah, this has got to," infielder Danny Espinosa said. "This could really take us a long way and get us on a good streak, get us in a good spot. To come back from the deficit we were at, to be able to win this game was awesome. I think this will be able to carry us for a little bit."

Espinosa was 1-for-3 on the night, but it was his ninth inning walk that helped set-up second baseman Dan Uggla's emotional three-run homer.

"It was awesome," Espinosa said. "I was just so happy. Happy for the team, happy for him. Big at-bat right there. And the way we just kept coming back, just staying at it, inning after inning, just trying to put another one on the board. And for him to do that right there, it was just unbelievable."

The Nats have lost games every which way, but the one constant struggle has been the overall lackluster performance of the offense. Tuesday night's game saw the Nats and Braves combine for 25 runs and 32 hits. Six of the Nats' 15 hits went for extra bases.

Uggla was the game's hero, but center fielder Denard Span deserves a lion's share of the credit for continuing to recharge the Nats' dugout time after time on a 5-for-6 effort that included three doubles and a homer. In fact, Span actually scored the Nats' first four runs of the ball game.

"I'm gonna be honest with you," Span said. "I just was kinda relaxed. I was like, 'we're down by eight, let me just put together some good at-bats and try to do best I can selfishly, individually.' And, before you knew it, we just kept battling and kept chipping away."

It was the fourth five-hit game of Span's eight-year career. He improved his season batting average to .314.

Count Span as a believer in turning points and momentum.

"That's definitely the type of game that can just change the spirits of a ball club," Span said. "It's a game that can change things, I'm not saying it will, but we definitely needed something like tonight. It's been a rough week for us and going down eight runs in the beginning of the game was even rougher. I mean, we were kinda in shock looking at each other and just kept battling."

In addition to Uggla's game-winner, the 10-year pro also delivered a huge two-run triple in the seventh inning as part of 3-for-5 night at the plate with five RBIs. It's the second time in Uggla's career that he's tripled in back-to-back games, having accomplished the feat last in 2013 with the Braves.

"I got on some stupid streak of hitting the ball to right-center a couple times and had to run all the way to third base," Uggla recalled. "It's not in my forte, but when it happens, I've got to take advantage of it."

Not to be overlooked is catcher Jose Lobaton, who entered Tuesday's game just 1-for-14 on the season. But Lobaton jumped on the offense train and snapped out of his early season slump in a big way with a 3-for-4 day that which included a huge three-run homer. Lobaton also became the Nats' first baserunner in the ninth after he singled. He scored his third run of the game on Uggla's roundtripper.

Finally, outfielder Reed Johnson came up with a clutch pinch-hit RBI double in the seventh that scored Uggla to draw the Nats within one at the time. But Johnson was unable to remain in the game as manager Matt Williams sent pitcher Doug Fister in to pinch-run. A concerned Williams addressed Johnson's injury as a pulled muscle in his foot.

"It acts like plantar fascia, but it's actually a muscle that kinda goes underneath your foot and up the side of your leg," Williams said. "He felt it when he came out of the box. He had a big pop. And when he got out to second, it was starting to subside and then he had to dive back into second base again and he couldn't go any further."

Williams indicated that Johnson could be facing a long term injury. Johnson is hitting .222 (4-for-18).