On Adams' swollen finger and Eaton's quick out in the ninth

TORONTO - Matt Adams finished the at-bat, and he played another inning in the field, but deep down the Nationals first baseman knew his left index finger was in no real condition to continue playing after it was struck by a pitch in the top of the second Friday night.

"I mean, I knew from the get-go it was bad, but I wanted to do everything I could to stay out there," he said. "I don't like coming out of the games and putting other guys in a tough position. So, tough situation."

Yes, and it will only be tougher for the Nationals if Adams can't play today, and especially if he needs to spend time on the disabled list.

They don't know yet if any of that will be necessary, but there did seem to be a sense of concern following Friday's 6-5 loss to the Blue Jays, with Adams' finger noticeably swollen.

"We'll revisit it tomorrow," he said. "It is what it is, but I think right now it's just day-to-day. Come in tomorrow, get some treatment and see how it feels."

Adams was injured when he tried to square around to bunt against the Blue Jays' infield shift in the top of the second, only to have Aaron Sanchez's pitch ride in on him and careen partly off the bat and partly off his finger.

Adams stayed in to finish the at-bat, but he was shaking his hand after striking out, and again after catching a throw from Anthony Rendon in the bottom of the inning. By the time the bottom of the third arrived, Mark Reynolds had taken over at first base.

"He was hurting," manager Davey Martinez said. "He went out and played defense, went back, tried to hit and swing. He wanted to hit. But I told him: 'Hey, I know you couldn't swing. Let's not chance it.'"

Reynolds had a rough night at the plate after replacing Adams, going 0-for-2 with a walk. He struck out in the sixth and then hit into a killer double play in the eighth that did bring home a run to draw the Nationals to within 6-5 but cleared the bases with two outs and all but ensured the rally would end there.

The Nationals had a golden opportunity to tie the game in the top of the ninth but squandered it. Wilmer Difo led off with a single to right, then stole second to put himself in scoring position. Thing is, he might have been able to advance to third after catcher Russell Martin's throw skipped into center field.

Difo, though, remained on the ground after sliding into second base, unaware he might've had a chance to take third base as well. Blue Jays shortstop Aledmys Diaz helped confuse him, pretending to put a tag on Difo even though he didn't have the ball.

The domino effect of all that? When Brian Goodwin sent a long fly ball to left field moments later, Difo could only tag up and take third instead of scoring the tying run. And that put pressure on Adam Eaton to try to drive him in with one out.

With the Toronto infield playing in, Eaton promptly bounced the first pitch he saw from Ryan Tepera to second baseman Devon Travis, who looked Difo back to third and threw out Eaton at first. Trea Turner then struck out to end the game, but Eaton's abrupt at-bat loomed because it was out of character for a guy known for grinding out long at-bats to put the first pitch he saw in play.

Eaton offered up a detailed explanation of his thought process.

"I've been trying to work the counts for the first whatever many games I've played (since coming off the disabled list)," he said. "I've swung at first pitches three times since I've been back. I thought that was going to be a good chance to swing at a first pitch. Early in the count, especially against Difo and Goody, (Tepera) was down and kind of in. That was my focus.

"And he happens to just spot up a ball middle-away, which is really is where my strong suit is. But I didn't have my focus there. I tried to read what has happened in the past. You take a risk when you've never seen a guy and try to ambush right there. I took a risk and it didn't work out.

"But looking back - and hindsight is 20/20 - but I wish I would've worked the count, at least seen what he has. Two guys put two good at-bats off him. I'm just thinking scouting reports and that he's going to try to sneak a sinker right down the middle on me. Like I said, it didn't work out."