Newcomer Rogers beats Mets, halts skid at seven (updated)

An unknown quantity produced some much-needed quality for the Nationals on Saturday night.

Lefty Josh Rogers - whose contract was selected from Triple-A Rochester to start the nightcap of a doubleheader because he was on turn and filled a need - threw 5 2/3 innings of four-hit, three-run ball as the Nationals beat the Mets 4-3 to snap a seven-game losing streak.

Employing a herky-jerky old-school windup with an occasional hint of hesitation, Rogers gave the Nationals the length they needed to spare their overtaxed bullpen and picked up his first major league victory since Aug. 28, 2018, when he won his major league debut over the Blue Jays while with the Orioles.

"Man, he worked really, really quick. I loved that," Nationals manager Davey Martinez said in his postgame Zoom session with reporters. "He was getting the ball, getting on the mound, ready to go again. I love that. He kept all the guys engaged, which was nice. He threw strikes ... and he threw strikes when he had to, so he gave the team some energy."

Rogers walked two and struck out a career-high five in the longest of his four career major league starts. Rogers threw 87 pitches, 57 for strikes.

"This means everything," Rogers said, grinning from ear to ear. "This whole organization has given me an opportunity to pitch back in the big leagues. It means everything. I've worked super hard over the past two years to get here, I've overcome a lot of adversity and I'm super excited and grateful for the opportunity to get the start here."

Lane Thomas and Alcides Escobar homered for the Nationals.

Rogers, signed to a minor league deal by the Nats on June 4 (three days after the Orioles released him) and stashed at Rochester, became the club-record 58th player used by Washington this season. He didn't miss a lot of bats, pitching to contact and letting his fielders do the heavy lifting.

"My command tonight wasn't really (good). What I'm good at is commanding the fastball, and I got into deep counts there in that third inning - 3-0 to (Pete) Alonso, 3-0 to the next hitter," he said. "And that's not my game at all. I gotta pitch ahead in the count. Honestly, my slider wasn't great tonight. I was just grinding out there, competing, trying to give it my all."

Saturday's start was a long time coming for Rogers, who underwent Tommy John ligament-replacement surgery in July 2019, was outrighted off the Orioles' 40-man roster in October of that year and didn't pitch at all in 2020 when the pandemic scrapped the minor league season he might have used to rehabilitate from surgery.

When the Orioles released him in June, Rogers wondered whether his time in baseball was done, but he quickly took the Nationals' offer to start at Triple-A. Once Keibert Ruiz was traded from the Dodgers, Rogers seemed to take off after connecting with his new catcher, setting the stage for his return to the majors.

"I put so much work in, so much preparation to get here," Rogers said. "I lost my grandfather back in July, on July 13, and he was my biggest biggest fan, my biggest supporter. So it was super tough. It was super emotional just a few minutes ago to see my family here. My grandmother's here. It just means the world to me and I know he's watching down on me."

Rogers had a loud cheering section that included his mother, brother, grandmother, aunt, girlfriend and seven friends who had planned to visit him this weekend in Rochester but gladly made a detour to D.C.

His family might have known what he went through over the past two years, but many of his new teammates were unaware of the path Rogers took and how close he came to thinking his career was over.

"I got released after four (minor league) outings coming off Tommy John," Rogers said. "It was humbling. I was home for a couple of days, searching. I was thinking, 'Maybe I'm gonna have to get a job - a real job.' ... There was a lot of low points in this whole thing, with the COVID year, the passing of my grandfather, I was out. I was rehabbing at home. Me and my dad played catch on the front yard like I was 12 years old. I'm like a big league rehabber and I'm playing catch with my dad on the front yard. "

Martinez hedged when asked whether Rogers had earned himself another start. Though he was the extra man for the doubleheader, there's no rule against demoting someone else and making sure that Rogers' debut wasn't a one-off.

"We'll talk about that tomorrow," Martinez said.

In most cases, the Nationals announce after a nightcap that the extra man has been returned to Triple-A. No such announcement was made Saturday night.

Rogers got off to a rough start in the opening inning, but rebounded nicely to hold the deficit at 1-0. Jonathan Villar drew a leadoff walk, went to third on Pete Alonso's double and scored on a Michael Conforto single. But Rogers struck out the next two hitters and got an inning-ending flyout.

By the time he returned to the mound, the Nats had a 2-1 lead. Lane Thomas led off with a fly ball that just kept carrying until it cleared the center field wall, tying the game. Then Escobar singled, went to third on Josh Bell's one-out single and scored on Carter Kieboom's RBI single to right.

Another home run gave the Nats some breathing room in the fifth inning. Luis García led off with a double, went to third on a Rogers sacrifice bunt and came home when Escobar cleared the center field fence off an 0-1 offering from Tylor Megill for a 4-1 lead.

Kevin Pillar, the only Met to have faced Rogers previously, launched a two-run homer in the sixth that cut the lead to 4-3. Pillar's blast, his 13th of the year, came moments after Rogers appeared to land awkwardly and was visited on the mound by head athletic trainer Paul Lessard for cramping in his calf.

"I thought he could have gotten through that last inning, but he was cramping up," Martinez said. "He kept the tempo really good and I like that. The other thing is, if you look at our bullpen usage, we've been going to our bullpen a lot. These guys needed a break, so it was awesome that he was able to give us the innings that he did."

Rogers got Jeff McNeil to ground sharply to second and was done for the night, giving way to Andres Machado, who fanned James McCann swinging to end the inning.

Kieboom was ejected in the Nationals sixth by home plate umpire Bill Welke after taking a called third strike. Kieboom animatedly voiced his displeasure at the call as he walked back to the dugout, earning the early exit.

Megill allowed four runs on seven hits over six innings, walking one and striking out seven.

Kyle Finnegan got the final three outs for his seventh save.