Breaking down Werth's latest epic home run at-bat

We've seen him do it so many times now during his Nationals career, we've come to expect that every time Jayson Werth engages in a long at-bat late in a ballgame, he's going to cap it off with a home run.

Werth, of course, doesn't actually do that every single time. But he sure does it a lot. And it certainly did it Wednesday night to ignite the Nationals' ninth-inning rally that ended in a 7-6 walk-off victory over the Orioles.

With an 11-pitch epic battle against right-hander Brad Brach, Werth added another dramatic homer to his lengthy ledger.

"I tell ya, Jayson Werth had a super at-bat," manager Dusty Baker said. "Rarely do you have an at-bat like that and end up hitting a homer."

Baker has only been managing the Nationals for 1 1/5 seasons, so he can be excused for not realizing the feat isn't so rare for Werth. Those who have been watching this team the last seven seasons know it has become his signature act on the baseball field.

There was, most memorably, his walk-off homer to beat the Cardinals in Game 4 of the 2012 National League Division Series. But there have been others over the years as well. And this one ranked right up there with them all.

Down 6-4 and leading off the bottom of the ninth, Werth got himself into an advantageous count against Brach, up 2-1. Then he started fouling off pitches. Four of them in a row. Then he took ball three on a changeup down and away he suggested was the key to the entire sequence.

"If I swing at that, I'm probably out, and we're not here sitting here talking about this," Werth said. "That was the pitch of the AB."

Werth wasn't done yet, though. With the count now full, he fouled off two more pitches before he finally got a 96-mph fastball up and away he could drive. He launched that pitch to right-center, clearing the out-of-town scoreboard.

The Nationals still trailed 6-5 after Werth rounded the bases. But make no mistake, they believe that at-bat made the rest of the inning possible.

"That's why I love hitting behind him," said Bryce Harper, who followed Werth's homer with an opposite-field double. "He always has good at-bats and always does his job and has great at-bats against pitchers like that. Whenever you go up against a guy like Brach, you've got to battle the best you can. That's what he did tonight. Close pitches and foul off, foul off, got a pitch he could drive and did damage."

Nobody in the Nationals lineup knows Brach better than Matt Wieters, who used to catch him in Baltimore. So of all people, Wieters knows how rare it is for anybody to put together that kind of at-bat against a tough reliever like that.

"Yeah, but Dub, he's been doing it for a long time," the catcher said. "He's been able to grind out some of the best. Really it's impressive to be able to put that good of a swing on a 3-2 pitch and drive it to right field."

Werth actually wasn't in the original lineup the Nationals posted Wednesday afternoon. After dealing with back spasms the previous night, he informed club trainer Paul Lessard he might not be 100 percent for this game. That diagnosis changed as the day progressed.

"I think they just assumed that I wasn't going to be able to play," Werth said. "By the time I got here, I was fine. So it was just a quick stop by Dusty's office, and the rest is history, I guess."

Werth has made plenty of history in these situations. So what is it about these long at-bats late in games that routinely end with a home run?

"I don't know," he insisted. "I think on some level as the at-bat goes on, I feel more comfortable. Obviously, kind of get a chance to see what he's got, and you get in rhythm with him a little. Maybe a little bit, but I don't know. I've had at-bats that can go the other way, too."

True, but Werth has been as successful as anybody in these situations. And he had homered off Brach before, although it was on the first pitch of an at-bat in 2014.

"I didn't even know I faced him before," Werth said with a laugh. "I get paid to forget, and I'm good at it. I couldn't tell you what happened yesterday or the day before. I just black out and see what happens. Basically how it goes."