For about two hours and 45 minutes, last night was one of the worst Nationals games of the year to watch. Doug Fister had held them down, only allowing three hits in eight innings work. And when they did get anyone on base, Ryan Zimmerman was there to hit into a deflating double play. But then the ninth inning came around, and everything just started to feel a little bit different
Something about their luck just started to change. Jayson Werth used an error to get to second as the first batter of the game. Then Michael Morse hit a ball off Mariners closer Brandon League, reaching first base and knocking him out of the game at the same time. When Wilson Ramos strolled to the plate, I had a better feeling about the outcome than I normally do when the team is down two with one out left. I wasn't the only one who was confident. According to Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post, the Nationals never gave up hope.
“We never put our heads down,” Ramos said. “We thought we could win the game.”
For Jayson Werth, it started when the Mariners pulled Fister out of the game.
“You kind of a take deep breath,” Jayson Werth said. “It’s like, ‘He’s gone. Let’s get this guy.’ When the inning started, we felt pretty good about it.”
However you slice it, and whatever circumstances led to them completing the comeback, it speaks volume about this team's character. There were some questions about how they would respond after their win streak was broken on Sunday. I think they answered those questions pretty well.