Baker and veterans have kept dugout calm in face of adversity

The calmness in the dugout during the series has been evident.

The Nationals have fallen behind 4-0, 2-0, 1-0 and 5-2 early in each game of this series. Three of the four times the club came back to tie or take the lead in that game. In the first game, they cut the deficit to 4-3 and had a few chances to take the lead. Despite 36 strikeouts in the last three games, the Nats have won two of those contests and had Game 4 tied at 5-5 in the eighth on Tuesday.

The veteran core of Jayson Werth, Daniel Murphy, Ryan Zimmerman, Anthony Rendon and Jose Lobaton have been one reason for this belief that they are never out of a game. The pitching has kept them close enough to allow for the comebacks.

Center fielder Trea Turner has noticed this veteran confidence around him.

"Those guys have been there," Turner said. "It's a matter of listening to them. I think a big part of that is Dusty. He's done a good job of keeping us relaxed. Obviously, he wants to win. We all want to win. But at the same time, if you try too hard or stress out or whatever it may be, it's going to speed up on you and not go your way.

"It's a combination of Zimmerman, Werth, Murphy from last year, and Dusty corralling everybody and letting everybody know that we are always in it no matter what, and I think that's relaxing in the sense that even if you're down by a few runs, it's not a big deal. Just continue doing what you've been doing all year and you've got a shot."

Werth has led by example, his ninth-inning homer Monday decided Game 3.

"This team is battle-tested and playoff-tested," Werth said Monday night. "We know what we need to do. I mean, it's a young team, but it's not a young team. We've got a lot of guys that have played in a lot of games, so there's not a lot that needs to be said."

Even though Bryce Harper has played four seasons now, at 23-year-old (his birthday is Sunday), he still has to be considered one of the younger players around these veterans. On Tuesday, he had two of the best at-bats of the series.

Manager Dusty Baker was impressed with his nine-pitch walk versus Clayton Kershaw and then another walk late in the game that helped ignite a three-run game-tying rally.

"Big time. I'm liking the fight we're seeing from him," Baker said of Harper. "During playoff time is when he's at his best. I'm liking it a lot because Kershaw, he's been hard on him his whole career, and he knows it and Kershaw knows it and you guys know it and you guys know it, everybody knows it. I like what I'm seeing, the fight in him."

That kind a fight could be a reflection on the manager, too: about how the combination of belief and confidence gets the Nats to the point where they know that they have a shot to win each at-bat.

"I think it's just a more relaxed environment," said the third baseman Rendon. "(Baker) doesn't put too much pressure on us, if any at all, because I feel like he knows what we're going through. He's just been a great life for this team and this year, so it's been fun to play with him and behind him."

Werth agrees that Baker has been a major import. But his value of this chance to advance at 37 also resonates. He knows he doesn't have that many opportunities left to play for the trophy.

"I think after last year, with the injuries and the way it ended and ... I felt like it was just like an opportunity lost," Werth said after their Game 3 win.

"With getting Dusty this year and the moves at the deadline, again, I just feel like this is ... you don't always get opportunities. I feel like it got taken away last year, and obviously I can't play this game forever. So I feel like this is ... I feel like this is our chance and I also feel like maybe this is my last chance to do it. For whatever reason, just been having fun."

Rendon might have put it best. This year's version of the Nats have been able to harness the energy of the postseason this time, and have not let the moment get in front of them like it did at times in 2012 and 2014.

"There's going to be a lot of emotions just throughout the playoffs, and in tie games in general, but it's how you respond to that," Rendon said Monday night. "You've got to hone those emotions and stay within yourself and not let those emotions get the best of you, so we've done a great job doing that."