On Herrera's one-run save and Martinez's late-game strategy

Even though Sean Doolittle has been sidelined for four weeks now with a toe injury, the Nationals on Sunday called upon Kelvin Herrera in a save situation for only the third time. The vast majority of their wins over the last month have come with sizeable leads, leaving their fill-in closer rarely taking the ball in the ninth inning with a slim lead.

Sunday, though, presented a new opportunity for Herrera. And the result was especially encouraging for the right-hander and the Nationals.

Clinging to a 2-1 lead over the Reds all afternoon, the Nats asked Herrera to close out his first one-run save for them. And he complied with a 1-2-3 top of the ninth, one of his most dominant performances since he was acquired from the Royals in June.

Herrera has been far from lights-out as a National, but he said the opportunity to pitch in a game with no margin for error was perhaps a more comfortable situation than some of his previous outings in more lopsided games.

"With a smaller lead, I have to be more relaxed to make sure I'm more focused and don't get too out of my zone," he said through interpreter Octavio Martinez. "With a one-run lead, I usually have to be more relaxed than with a two-run or three."

Herrera sure looked relaxed on Sunday. He got Eugenio Suárez to fly out to right, got Mason Williams to ground out and then saw the game come down to one final at-bat against one of the best hitters in the game: Joey Votto.

Votto had been given a rare day off by Reds interim manager Jim Riggleman, but Herrera knew the big slugger loomed on the bench and likely would make his presence known before this game was over.

"Yeah, I looked out and I saw him in the eighth inning possibly getting ready to come in and hit," Herrera said. "So I was mentally prepared to face him if I had to. And I just had a good game plan going in if I did face him, and I executed and it worked out."

That game plan included a particular put-away pitch: a changeup down and away. Herrera wound up doubling up on it for his final two pitches, the last of which caught the outside corner for a game-ending strike three.

"I think the big thing is: They're going to have to string some hits together (with two outs and nobody on), so we're going to try to stay down and away on him, and that was the game plan," catcher Matt Wieters said. "Kelvin actually came out and said: 'What do we want to do?' Just sinker, changeup down and away, and he was able to execute it."

"The way (Votto) sits right on top of the plate," Herrera said, "I feel like he has a tough time picking up the changeup."

Herrera's third save for the Nationals came in a most significant situation. This was their first one-run victory since June 13.

The nip-and-tuck game also affected how Davey Martinez managed the later innings. Perhaps his toughest call came in the bottom of the eighth, when the Nationals were trying to tack on an insurance run with a man on second, two out and Matt Adams due up.

With left-hander Amir Garrett on the mound for Cincinnati, Martinez had no shortage of pinch-hitting options: Ryan Zimmerman, Mark Reynolds and Trea Turner. He wound up going with Turner, in part because he figured Riggleman would probably just intentionally walk whoever came up to bat and bring Wieters to the plate instead.

Sure enough, that's what happened, so now the speedy Turner was on first base with a chance to score an extra run himself if the next batter hit one into the gap.

Why not pinch-hit for Wieters, though, with Zimmerman or Reynolds? Martinez had a simple answer.

"I would never take Wieters out when we're ahead like that, because he's got the feel of the game," the manager said. "He's watched these hitters all game, and for me, we needed him that last inning."

Martinez's thinking sure seemed to pay off. Though Wieters popped out and left the Nationals' lead razor-thin at one run, he worked quite well behind the plate with Herrera in the top of the ninth and called that critical final changeup to Votto to secure the win.