Newly activated regulars deliver late to end skid (updated)

It was appropriate - probably wise - to temper expectations when the Nationals emerged from visitors' dugout tonight in St. Louis and for the first time in 2021 had their entire lineup active. As much as everyone hoped Josh Bell, Kyle Schwarber and Josh Harrison would make an immediate impact, logic suggested it was too much to expect in their first game of the season after being stuck in COVID-19-related quarantine.

And for a few innings, that was indeed the appropriate sentiment. The three newly added players looked a little rusty at the plate, going a combined 0-for-6. Until they finally settled in, got comfortable and performed exactly as the Nats hoped they would two weeks ago when they had no reason to believe they wouldn't be part of the opening day roster.

Combining to reach base six times, while scoring two runs and driving in another in eight plate appearances from the sixth inning on, Bell, Schwarber and Harrison helped lead the way as the Nationals toppled the Cardinals 5-2 to snap a five-game losing streak and leave everybody feeling better about the state of things after a brutal first week of the season.

"It was definitely fun to be out there," Schwarber said during his postgame Zoom session with reporters. "I'm really excited about this team. I know that this team's got a lot of potential. We just have to go out there and execute. And we executed today."

Schwarber executed as well as anyone: His RBI double to right-center in the top of the sixth gave the Nats the lead for good and advanced Bell (who walked right in front of him) to third base, where he would soon thereafter score on Starlin Castro's sacrifice fly.

Two innings later, Bell again walked and took third on Schwarber's single, setting the stage for Castro's RBI single to extend the lead. Harrison would follow with his first hit of the young season, keeping the rally going.

"It's awesome. We missed those guys," said Castro, who reaped the benefits by twice batting with both Bell and Schwarber on base. "It makes a difference when they're in there. I didn't really know (they were returning). I just checked it out this morning and saw those guys were playing, and there was a smile on my face. 'Cause those guys are going to help us."

Throw in a pinch-hit home run by Andrew Stevenson - suddenly a potent bat off the bench instead of the starting left fielder - in the seventh, and the Nationals delivered their best offensive performance in a while just when they needed it most.

"What happens is, it extends our lineup. It extends our bench," manager Davey Martinez said of today's additions. "And I think you can tell, when things start clicking, when they start feeding off one another, one guy gets on, next guy wants to get on, next guy wants to drive them in. And it keeps going on and on and on."

They also got quality work from their bullpen, with Kyle Finnegan, Tanner Rainey, Daniel Hudson and Brad Hand combining for 4 1/3 innings of one-run ball in relief of Erick Fedde as Martinez for the first time had a chance to utilize his bullpen as intended with a lead.

The delayed debut of three regulars to the lineup certainly provided an emotional boost to a ballclub riding a five-game losing streak, but it wouldn't mean much if tonight's starting pitcher didn't give them a chance to win. Fedde didn't do that in his season debut last week against the Braves, failing to get out of the second inning. So consider how big a boost for the Nationals it was when the right-hander turned things around impressively this time.

With a fastball that consistently registered 95 mph and even reached 96 mph a few times, Fedde surprisingly became a strikeout pitcher instead of a pitch-to-contact guy. He recorded four consecutive K's against the heart of the Cardinals lineup, and for good measure got Nolan Arenado twice in as many at-bats.

"I didn't want to over-panic, or immediately say one bad outing was going to be something that was going to make me change everything and hit the panic button," Fedde said. "If anything, it was just: Stay calm and remember where I was at, and try to get back to that point. ... Nobody wants to start the year off the way I did. You just can't let it snowball. I tried my best to not allow that happen. And luckily today, things went really well."

St. Louis' lone run off Fedde came in the bottom of the third, and it came via Matt Carpenter's bunt single (his first hit in 13 at-bats to begin the season), John Gant's sacrifice bunt and Tommy Edman's RBI single right between two shifted members of the Nats infield.

Fedde rebounded to retire the side in the fourth, though he seemed to hit a bit of a wall in the fifth when he issued back-to-back walks of the aforementioned .077-hitting Carpenter and the .105-hitting Justin Williams. And once Gant moved both runners into scoring position with another sac bunt, Martinez decided not to press his luck any further and summoned Finnegan for a key showdown with Edman.

Finnegan, who began to establish a reputation as a successful fireman last summer as a rookie, extinguished this two-alarmer in impressive fashion. He got Edman to ground out to second and kill the rally, keeping the game tied 1-1 after five and keeping Fedde's pitching line intact.

"Like I tell these guys in the bullpen: No matter where I use them, every inning is a save," Martinez said. "For those guys, you've got to look at it that way and give the ball to the next guy. I thought Finnegan did a tremendous job getting big outs for us in the middle."

The Nationals had taken a quick lead only three batters into the game, before the newly activated crew even had a chance to step to the plate for the first time. Victor Robles drove the first pitch of the night to right-center for a leadoff triple, and when Juan Soto laced a first-pitch curveball to right for an RBI single, the Nats were on the board.

As might have been expected, the newcomers looked a little off their first couple times at bat. Bell grounded into a double play and struck out on a couple of seemingly hittable fastballs. Schwarber grounded out and flied out. Harrison lined out and flied out.

"The first two (at-bats), I felt like the ball was coming out really, really hard. And it didn't," Schwarber said with a laugh. "I had to really slow it down."

As the night progressed and the trio indeed began to relax, the results arrived. And the Nationals - and their fans - finally got a glimpse of their full lineup's capabilities.

It was hard not to be encouraged by it all.

"We left spring training, we were in a good place when we left," Martinez said. "We felt good, things were starting to peak for us at the end there. And then unfortunately things happened. But now we're back together. We had a little bit of a fieriness in us, and a little bit of momentum before the game."