Taylor's late homer bails out bullpen, Nats hold on for 6-5 win

They can get the gutsiest of performances from their ace. They can scratch out runs and take a lead into the late innings. It doesn't matter what happens up to that point, though, because every single Nationals game these days is decided in the eighth inning or later, good or bad.

And you can now add tonight's doubleheader finale to the good column.

Despite blowing a one-run lead in the top of the eighth, the Nationals stormed back in the bottom of the inning, getting a two-run homer from Michael A. Taylor to retake the lead. Matt Albers then did the seemingly impossible and pitched a scoreless ninth to secure a harrowing, 6-5 victory and salvage a doubleheader split with the Phillies.

A game that included Max Scherzer writhing on the ground in pain after taking a comebacker off his left knee, yet staying in to complete six innings, once again came down to the bullpen late.

The Nationals relief corps already blew a victory in today's opener, with Shawn Kelley giving it up in the ninth to the consternation of many. That group tried to do it again in the nightcap, with Matt Grace and Jacob Turner combining to allow two runs in the top of the eighth and leave the crowd of 30,137 alternately booing and throwing hands into the air in disbelief.

But then Taylor came to the rescue, launching a pitch from Pat Neshek off the left field foul pole to put the Nats back on top in the bottom of the eighth.

Albers then pitched the ninth to record the save and end a long and maddeningly frustrating day at the ballpark.

The scare of the night - and the young season - came in the top of the fourth when Michael Saunders scalded a ball 100 mph off the bat and struck Scherzer in the left knee. The right-hander immediately went down in a heap, then got back up to his feet and tried to walk it off, only to crumple back to the ground and writhe in agony that could be seen from the last row of the upper deck.

The crowd fell hushed as manager Dusty Baker and head athletic trainer Paul Lessard rushed to check on Scherzer. After several tense moments, the pitcher got back on his feet, gingerly tested his leg out again and threw three warmup tosses, convincing the brass he could stay in the game as the crowd roared with approval.

The Phillies, though, took advantage of the hobbled Scherzer, scoring a pair of runs before that fourth inning ended with them holding a 2-1 lead.

Scherzer, however, was far from done. He re-took the mound for the top of the fifth and promptly struck out the side on nine pitches. That made him only the second pitcher in club history to author the so-called "immaculate inning" - nine pitches, three strikeouts - joining Jordan Zimmermann's comparable effort from the 2011 season.

The Nationals lineup rewarded Scherzer for his above-and-beyond efforts, scoring two runs in the bottom of the fifth to retake the lead, with Trea Turner's sacrifice fly and Bryce Harper's RBI double each bringing home a run.

The Phillies tied it back up in the sixth on Saunders' double and Andrés Blanco's RBI single, but the Nationals got that run right back in the bottom of the inning when Brian Goodwin sent a two-out, pinch-hit double into the left field corner to put Scherzer in line for the win.

That win, of course, would only be possible if the Nationals could get nine outs from their makeshift bullpen. Which, as we've seen night-in and night-out, is anything but a sure thing.