Treinen delivers again in the clutch thanks to his patented sinker

DENVER - A major reason for Monday's comeback victory over the Rockies for the Nationals was the bullpen, which picked up starter Max Scherzer with five shutout innings.

That allowed the Nationals to rebound from a 3-0 deficit to beat Colorado 5-4.

Matt Belisle, Sammy Solis, Blake Treinen, Shawn Kelley and Mark Melancon combined to allow only three hits the rest of the way.

Treinen continues to master his time on the mound with an outstanding sinker. He arrived with one out in the seventh and induced a 5-3 double play off the bat of Nolan Arenado, his 13th double play of the season, to squelch the Rockies' opportunity to rally.

"He has that sinker," said manager Dusty Baker. "That sinker will get you out of trouble even if you get into trouble. That's one of the best pitches in baseball because it's hard to keep off the ground. He's gaining more and more confidence. He's doing the job."

Scherzer said Treinen's stuff is sometimes too difficult to hit.

"He's got one of the best sinkers I've ever seen," Scherzer said. "I don't know (how) he can throw it 98 mph and make it sink. I don't know how to do it. When he comes out of the 'pen, you know that that is a real threat. He's a groundball pitcher and he can get that type of result at any time. He's a huge weapon for us."

Left fielder Jayson Werth, who crushed a home run in the comeback, says it is tough for a hitter to try to make contact against Treinen's sinking fastball, as Arenado found out.

"You saw tonight, he had a pretty good hitter up there, one of the premier bats in the league, an aggressive hitter with that sinker at that velocity for right-handed hitters that can be challenging," Werth said.

Baker says he has seen Treinen get better as the season moves along, especially recently. Baker believes Treinen's confidence in part comes from the trade deadline fading away into the past.

"I think since the trade deadline past, he's also more comfortable here knowing he's going to be here," Baker said. "There was some people that were inquiring about Blake and we can see why. He's done a heck of a job."