Nats experience range of emotions after comeback falls short

After seven innings tonight, the Nationals were headed toward a frustrating-but-acceptable loss to a very good opponent, unable to do anything at the plate and perhaps destined for a 1-0 defeat.

After 8 1/2 innings, the Nationals were headed toward an aggravating, now-less-acceptable loss, letting the Cubs open up a 5-0 lead via a flurry of defensive miscues and fundamental execution by the visitors.

But after nine innings, how exactly were the Nationals supposed to feel about this game now? That 5-0 deficit turned into a 5-4 deficit in stunning fashion, a dramatic rally against Wade Davis reinvigorating the dugout and putting the Nats on the precipice of their most impressive victory of the season.

And yet, the final score was 5-4, the tying runner stranded on third base as Ryan Zimmerman struck out on a curveball in the dirt, the latest chapter in an ongoing narrative dating to last season in which Zimmerman keeps getting opportunities to beat the Cubs and keeps making critical outs with runners in scoring position.

So what was the vibe in the Nationals clubhouse after all that? It depended on the person being interviewed.

"We were kicking ass in the ninth inning," Gio Gonzalez said. "We were giving them (reason) to bite their nails away. It was not something (where) we were going quietly. We were fighting all the way to the end and showed we (have) a stronger way of thinking from last year to this year. It's a different Nationals game, Nationals team."

That was the upbeat take, the glass-half-full view from the Nationals starter.

Bryce Harper provided a different perspective when asked if this loss was any easier to swallow because of the manner in which the Nats nearly rallied all the way back from five runs down.

"Nah. I mean, a loss is a loss," the star right fielder said. "Doesn't really matter who it's against or anything like that. Just part of the game. Just gotta go out there tomorrow and go get 'em."

Perhaps the most reasoned take, the one that straddled the line between enthusiasm and frustration, came from Zimmerman, who has spent his adult life providing reasoned takes.

"Obviously, you want to win the game," he said. "There's no consolation prizes or anything like that. But to come back and make it a game, I think it says something about our team."

Time will tell whether the events of the bottom of the ninth tonight matter at all in the bigger picture, or whether this was merely a wild finish to a compelling ballgame.

Either way, it's worth reviewing the events of that final, harried frame.

It began not with Davis on the mound, but Hector Rondon, with manager Joe Maddon trying to pull off the unconventional seven-pitcher shutout. Rondon, though, immediately got into trouble when Daniel Murphy doubled, Anthony Rendon lined out to left and Matt Wieters singled home the Nationals' long-awaited first run of the night.

That's when Maddon summoned his closer, asking Davis to finish off what at that moment still appeared to be a simple Chicago victory. Until it wasn't.

Michael A. Taylor greeted Davis with a double to right-center, and pinch-hitter Stephen Drew followed with his own double down the right field line, bringing two runs home and the tying run to the plate. After Trea Turner walked and Brian Goodwin struck out, it was Harper stepping to the plate for the stop-whatever-you're-doing at-bat of the night: former MVP versus former best reliever in the sport.

Maddon, who infamously refused to pitch to Harper last year at Wrigley Field, let his guys go after the slugger this time. And Harper delivered with a three-hit night, including his little looper just beyond the shortstop's position, with Javier Báez making an impressive play to corral the ball and prevent anybody from advancing more than one base, but nonetheless leaving Davis in the ultimate jam.

"Every hitter was battling," manager Dusty Baker said. "You know, we got a big pinch-hit from Drew, and Harp battled. Murph started it off. Michael Taylor hit one off the wall. All our guys. Wieters got a big hit. All our guys. No one wanted to make the last out."

No one wanted to make the last out, but Zimmerman was the guy at the plate who made the last out. There was still some more drama before that happened - Davis' 1-1 fastball sailed over catcher Willson Contreras' mitt to the backstop and pinch-runner Wilmer Difo narrowly scampered home with the run that cut the deficit to 5-4 as Turner ran to third representing the tying run and Harper ran to second representing the winning run.

But as what remained of a crowd of 29,651 stood and pleaded for one more big hit from this year's MVP candidate, Zimmerman struck out on a 2-2 curveball in the dirt, lamenting a golden opportunity that didn't look possible minutes earlier gone awry

"He's been one of the best in the game for a while, and he still is," Zimmerman said of Davis. "I got one good pitch to hit, and usually that's all you get against guys like that."

And so the Nationals left the park with the same result that felt inevitable 30 minutes earlier, and yet felt entirely different.

Ballplayers lose games all the time and know how to react to different types. This one, though, fell into its own category altogether.

"As long as you got outs, you got a chance," Baker said. "That's how I look at it. Especially with the offense that we have. You don't know when and who they are going to erupt against. And the fact that we had action on winning that game ... we were a hit away from winning that game, and our guys didn't quit.

"It was a great comeback."