Williams on Barrett and Strasburg in NLDS Game 4

Nationals manager Matt Williams spent time this morning with The Junkies on 106.7 the Fan in Washington and talked about the loss in the National League Division series. Williams was obviously still disappointed about the way the season ended with a 3-1 series loss to the Giants. Listen to the entire interview here. The Junkies asked Williams to explain why he decided to keep relievers Matt Thornton and Aaron Barrett in the game to face the right-handers in the Giants lineup in Game 4. "We get into a situation in the seventh inning where we had two lefties at the top of the order," Williams explained. "Matt certainly has good splits against righties, too. He handles righties fine. We got (Gregor) Blanco out, (Joe) Panik gets a base hit and then (Buster) Posey gets a base hit. And then we've got a situation. "The situation is (Hunter) Pence and Barrett, and Aaron, you know, first and foremost - don't want to take anything away from Aaron's season, the job he did for us was phenomenal. Coming into face (Marlins power hitter) Giancarlo Stanton, when he was the hottest hitter on the planet, and striking him out. He's been in that situation many, many times, and he understands it. It didn't happen for him. And ultimately that inning unraveled on him. But that's our guy that we have gone to all year. "That's the guy that has come in and done a great job in that situation. Frankly, that's why he's on the roster for the playoffs, to be in that situation. He's not a one-plus inning guy, he's the guy that comes in and gets the tough righty out. He ended up going full on Pence, Pence fouled a ball off, and he ended up walking him. We got the bases loaded, and a wild pitch. It unraveled on him a bit out there. "I love him in that spot. I love him in that spot to come in and throw the slider and get the big out. He was recently in that situation in September and got a double play ball. Hindsight is great when it doesn't work out and it doesn't go your way. But he's our guy for that spot. And he's been that all year. He's done a fantastic job with it." One of The Junkies asked Williams, "When did you get the vibe, you know what, Barrett's just not ready for this?" "See, that's not the point though. He is ready for that," Williams responded. "He is ready to be that guy. He was that guy all year. It's not about him being ready. He missed with three fastballs, got back to a full count, Pence fouled a ball off and ended up walking him. It happens. It happens in baseball. "Now if he makes a good pitch on a slider and Pence hits into a double play, then he was the perfect guy for the situation. But it didn't happen. It didn't go that way. And so hindsight's a wonderful thing. But we make the decisions on guys to bring them in to do their job, what they do best and that's what Aaron does best." The Junkies also asked why Williams didn't consider putting starter Stephen Strasburg in for that situation when the Nationals had to win that game or go home. "There's talk out there about why wasn't Stephen in the game," Williams said. "Well, Stephen wasn't in the game because Stephen has never relieved. He was in the same situation that Tanner (Roark) was in in Game 2. He was the late guy, multiple-inning guy and the last guy, and Stephen's never even been in that situation that Tanner was in, coming out of the bullpen. "When it doesn't go right, people talk. I understand frustration. And I understand that folks talk about it. We made the decisions to help our team win and the best decisions we could make. And it didn't work out. So who's to blame and who gets it? I get it, because I'm the manager. And that's fine. I expect that. I expect to have the questions asked. But if Aaron comes in and strikes out Pence and strikes out (Pablo) Sandoval, then we move on and we have a chance to win that game. It didn't happen." Williams explained that baseball can be a cruel sport at times, especially when you guide a team to a division title and 96 wins, only to see it end abruptly in four games. He said he had been through that feeling many times as a player and knows what his team is feeling right now. AFL update: In the Arizona Fall League, Salt River beat Mesa (0-2) by a 7-3 final. Nationals catching prospect Spencer Kieboom went 1-for-4 with a single for Mesa. Tony Renda got into the game as a pinch-runner and scored a run. Mesa hosts Surprise tonight. The Solar Sox are the only winless team in the AFL after the first three days.