Werth makes most of day off, launches grand slam off bench

Different players approach days off in different ways. Some like to take a full mental and physical break, and just watch the game from the dugout, available only in case of emergency. Others like to take the opportunity to work on something, maybe find what has been missing from their swing that perhaps provoked the day off.

Jayson Werth has taken both approaches during his career, preferring rest when he's physically ailing but wanting to tinker when he's healthy and perhaps struggling.

So when he found out he would be sitting out today's series finale at Nationals Park, Werth (owner of a .220 batting average and .278 on-base percentage when play commenced) decided to head to the batting tunnel underneath the first base stands. There he spent much of the game working, trying out something he recently detected watching video of himself.

"Obviously, I haven't been hitting the ball the way I'd like to," he said. "So I went back and looked at some film and kind of lowered my hands a little bit, did some drills."

Werth didn't know at the time if his services would be necessary by day's end, but as the game played out, with the Nationals taking a 3-1 lead on the Cardinals and then trying to hang on to win, he sensed manager Dusty Baker might be calling his name at some point.

The key game development, from Werth's perspective, was a double-switch in the top of the seventh that put Chris Heisey in left field batting ninth and put the pitcher in the No. 2 slot in the Nats lineup, behind Ben Revere and ahead of Bryce Harper and Daniel Murphy.

"The double-switch, that put the pitcher in the two-spot," Werth said. "I knew I was the only right-handed bat left. And Ben's a lefty, obviously Bryce and Murphy are lefties. So it just kind of opened up the opportunity for me. I saw the opportunity to hit off a lefty with some guys on base. I knew we were a couple innings away, but I was able to get ready for the at-bat."

Sure enough, Werth's instincts were correct. That No. 2 spot in the lineup did come up in the bottom of the seventh, and it came up with the bases loaded and left-hander Dean Kiekhefer on the mound for St. Louis. Manager Mike Matheny wasn't going to bring in a righty, not with Harper and Murphy still due up and only one out. So he let Kiekhefer face Werth.

And Werth made the opposing manager pay for it. With one mighty swing on a 1-0 count, the 37-year-old sent the ball flying 437 feet to straightaway center field, well over the fence, for a pinch-hit grand slam that blew open the game and ultimately helped send the Nationals to a 10-2 victory.

That blast represented Werth's fourth career pinch-hit homer and his sixth career grand slam, but the first time he has ever combined the two into one impressive feat of strength. It was only the second pinch-hit grand slam in Nationals history, done before only by Justin Maxwell on Sept. 11, 2007 in Miami.

Baker has been giving Werth and other regulars in the Nats lineup a fair share of regular days off. The rationale: The occasional day off now pays dividends later.

When it happened a week ago in Miami, Werth had another opportunity to make a big difference late: At the plate with two on and nobody out in the ninth, his team trailing by a run. He proceeded to ground into a 5-4-3 double play, a demoralizing moment for a guy who feels like he's been the victim of his share of bad luck so far this season.

"He's been swinging a lot better sometimes with no results," Baker said. "I don't know if it was eating at him. He hit into the double play in Miami. I told him that I remember like it was yesterday when I hit into a double play to end the game against Ron Davis with Minnesota, when I was with the A's. These are the things that you kind of remember. That was big-time today."

Werth's personal philosophy may not mesh perfectly with it, but he appreciates Baker's reasoning for giving him regular days off.

"The goal is to make it to the finish line," Werth said. "So with the days off, I was talking to Murph about it the other day. He likes them. I kind of come more from the school of I want to play when I'm healthy. But Dusty wants everybody to stay fresh. So far, so good."

Indeed, whether Baker's plan has made a difference or not, Nationals regulars haven't been dealing with nearly as many nagging injuries so far this season than they have in several previous ones.

And that can have added benefits. If Werth only gets days off when he doesn't feel well enough physically to play, he can't then work on his swing in the cage. But when he's given days off like this, he's able to take advantage of the situation and perhaps do something that will help him and the Nationals in the long run.

"It kind of depends on how the game's going," he said. "Or how you're feeling. If you're off cause you're banged up, you probably don't do as much. But I've been feeling pretty good. I've been healthy. I was able to get some good work in today, and it paid off."