Ovations aplenty in Nationals' regular season finale

The result didn't matter. The Nationals had locked up a division title three weeks ago, had locked up home-field advantage for the National League Division Series a week ago. There was a chance to match the franchise record with win No. 98, but that team pursuit took a backseat today.

Unless there's something larger at stake, Game 162 is usually about individual over team. And so this afternoon's contest on South Capitol Street - an 11-8 loss to the Pirates that required a record 4 hours, 22 minutes to complete - was more than anything about making sure a slew of Nationals got proper recognition, some for their contributions in 2017, one for his contributions over the last seven years.

Dusty Baker orchestrated moments for Ryan Zimmerman, Anthony Rendon, Daniel Murphy, Bryce Harper and Jayson Werth all to trot off the field to standing ovations. None was more heartfelt than the one reserved for Werth, who may have been playing the last of his 808 regular season games in a Nationals uniform.

The crowd of 35,652 that gathered here today - bringing the final season attendance total to 2,524,980, an average of 31,172 - cheered Werth every opportunity it had. When he came up to bat. When he took his position in left field. When the scoreboard played a montage of moments from the last seven seasons between innings.

"The fans were great," said Werth, whose seven-year, $126 million contract expires this winter. "I wasn't really expecting the (video montage) in the first inning. That was probably the nicest thing any organization's done for me. So I appreciate that. And thank the Nationals. They've been a class organization from start to finish here. And it's not over. We've still got a lot of games to play."

Werth, who doesn't yet know where (or if) he'll be playing in 2018, tried to give the fans an on-field moment to match the emotion. He doubled home a run in the third and sent a drive to the base of the wall in center field in the eighth, but that's the best he could manage.

Still, Werth was suitably celebrated when he was pulled before the top of the ninth, doffing his cap to the crowd and receiving a long hug from Harper as the entire dugout applauded.

"He's definitely going to be missed, not only by me but the fans as well," Harper said. "He's been here since the run that we had in '12 and on to now. He's been a huge part of his organization's growth, major league and minor league. In the clubhouse, trainers, food staff, everything, he's brought in a tremendous amount of positivity and winning, that winning attitude. The leadership that he has, wow, you can't say enough about it."

The ovation for the 38-year-old was the emotional capper to an extraordinarily long afternoon at the ballpark. This wound up being the longest nine-inning game in the history of both clubs, surpassing the 4-hour, 1-minute marathon between the same two teams on Sept. 25, 2016 at PNC Park.

"Long-ass game, I'm going to say that," said Gio Gonzalez, who lasted only 4 1/3 innings in his final start of the regular season. "I'm gonna curse. That's the first one I'm going to say. This one ... yeah, head-scratcher."

Baker started all his regulars, then slowly began removing them after they took the field in subsequent innings.

Zimmerman was up first, pulled after taking his position for the top of the fourth. The organization's longest-tenured player earned a loud ovation for his remarkable comeback season, one in which he finished with a .303 batting average, 36 homers and 108 RBIs. He's the first player in club history to hit at least .300 with 30 homers and 100 RBIs.

Zimmerman was far from alone, though, in putting up big-time numbers this year.

Rendon enjoyed his own remarkable season, capped by today's three-run homer in the bottom of the first. When he departed to an ovation in the top of the fifth, he did so with a nice, round 25 homers and 100 RBIs to go along with a .301 batting average.

"I was hoping more than anything that he got 100 RBIs today," Baker said. "Cause that's a tremendous milestone, especially if you've never reached it before. I was telling Rendon that one year I ended up with 99 and then I hit the top of the fence in my last at-bat in Atlanta. And I said, 'Aw, I'll get it 10 more times.' But I never got it."

By launching that three-run blast, Rendon ensured he would be one of four Nationals players who hit .300 with at least 23 home runs this season. The only other teams in major league history that can make that claim? The 1996 and 1997 Rockies, who played one-half of their games at Coors Field and accomplished this during the steroid era.

Zimmerman and Rendon are joined in that club by Murphy and Harper, who each got to have his own moment this afternoon. Murphy went 2-for-3 to raise his batting average to .322 (along with 23 homers and 93 RBIs) and was showered with praise when he was pulled before the top of the sixth.

Harper, meanwhile, looked the best he has in any of his five games since returning from the disabled list earlier in the week. He went 2-for-4 with a walk, but both hits were lasers that left his bat at 111-mph or more. And he passed one more important test in the bottom of the seventh, scoring all the way from first base with ease, his helmet flying off his head as he rounded third, his recovered left knee showing no signs of trouble.

"First time I've really turned it on in seven weeks or so," he said. "So it felt good."

Thus concluded Harper's crash course prep for the postseason. In his five games, he went 3-for-18 with two walks. The Nationals wish he had more games to play before he takes the field Friday against the Cubs, but they can't do anything now but hope for the best.

That applies for the entire team, which has long since known it would be playing into October but now finally gets the opportunity.

"We had a good season," Baker said. "We're trying to approach a great season. What stood out is how most of the fans stayed around for this 4-hour and something game. That's what stood out, how much appreciation the fans and this city have given us. All I hear about is how much excitement and joy we brought to the city this year, from the people in the street. And the best is yet to come."