Difo's clutch hit in last at-bat gives Nats 5-4 walk-off win

The Nationals put together their first walk-off win of the year thanks to a ninth-inning rally over the Phillies. The two-run last at-bat surge demonstrated the lineup's ability to be patient with the game on the line.

Facing Phillies closer Héctor Neris for the second day in a row, the Nats tallied two runs on two hits and two walks to rally from a 4-3 deficit to post the 5-4 win.

Wilmer Difo's single over the infield plated Rafael Bautista with the winning run. Center field was vacant because the Phillies had employed an extra infielder with no outs in the inning.

"He was a little out of control out there with his pitches," Difo said of Neris, via team interpreter Octavio Martinez. "I just went with the mentality to get a good pitch and if I did, hit it hard."

The Nats trailed 4-1 heading into the bottom of the eighth. A two-run single by Anthony Rendon had cut the deficit to 4-3 before the last at-bat heroics.

Matt Wieters singled to deep second to start the ninth. Pinch-runner Bautista went from first to third thanks to an errant pickoff throw to first by Neris. Neris was given the two-base error. Howie Kendrick was hit by a pitch to put runners on the corners.

Michael A. Taylor came up and attempted to bunt early in the at-bat but Neris couldn't throw strikes. Taylor walked to load the bases.

Pedro Severino also watched as Neris was unable to find the strike zone. He worked the count full and Neris threw ball four to allow Bautista to walk in from third and tie the game.

Severino said he did not realize he was even going to get a shot at an at-bat. He first thought he was going to pinch run for Wieters.

"I'm just getting loose in the dugout because I think I need to pinch run for Wieters," Severino said. "They tell me I go to pinch hit if Michael Taylor gets on base. My mentality was I know the situation, he was wild, all over the place. Don't try to do too much at home plate. See my pitches and try to put the ball in play."

Difo's single to center completed the comeback. His teammates mobbed him and the Nats left for San Diego with back-to-back series wins. The Nats have won seven of their last eight games and improve to 18-17.

The win was similar to the Nats big comeback in New York against the Mets on April 16. Down 6-1, the Nats rallied for an 8-6 run thanks to a six-run eighth inning. In that inning, Mets relievers walked two batters, including the go-ahead run on a walk by pinch-hitter Matt Reynolds.

Severino said Wieters, Taylor and Difo all demonstrated good patience to let Neris make the mistakes that would doom the Phillies.

"They do a great job too," Severino noted. "They are patient because we tried to get a big rally there. Yesterday he was wild all over the plate and he was lucky to get a line drive double play right there. Today when he walked the first guy we tried to be like more patient with everybody.

"He throws a lot of splitters. His splitter is very good but he threw just one. I don't know why exactly. He can throw the fastball for a strike. He's walking everybody. Everybody come in there and had to see the situation and be patient at home plate."

The Phillies were unable to record an out in the final inning. The Nats singled, got hit by pitch, walked twice and then the walk-off single from Difo. Wieters legged out a single to shallow right and Bautista demonstrated his speed to go first to third on a bad pickoff attempt.

Manager Davey Martinez said the way his club took advantage of what Neris was giving them was a key to the comeback.

"I'll say it every day, it's the little things," Martinez said. "Matty hustled to get a base hit. Bautista goes in there and causes him to throw the ball away, goes to third base. The little things matter. Difo's huge hit, at the end there, staying in the middle of the field and not trying to do too much."

Severino was called upon to pinch-hit that moment because Ryan Zimmerman was still sore with a bruised side. Martinez also felt Severino was a good choice for the at-bat with three men on.

"I really didn't want him to hit," said Martinez. "He said he felt still a little stiff. And I thought Sevey works good at-bats. And I thought bases loaded, he could work a pretty good at-bat and he really did."

Max Scherzer tossed 6 1/3 innings, allowing one run and scattering five hits. He struck out a season-high 15 and walked two, one of which was intentional. Sean Dollittle (1-1) gets credit for the win, pitching one scoreless and hitless inning, striking out two.

Scherzer said winning the final two series at home was a good way to keep the momentum going as the club headed out west again for the second time since April 20-25.

"We swept Pittsburgh, won this series, so we had a good homestand," he said. "And obviously we're now going on the west coast and we got two series on this and continue to play good baseball. You don't really get caught up.

"You can't get too high, you can't get too low. You just got to focus on how you're playing as a team and when you have a team win like this today, that bodes well and hopefully we continue to play this way."