Eddie Rosario never got a good look at the biggest hit of his — and the Washington Nationals’ — season.
Instead, as his 402-foot, two-run homer off Toronto Blue Jays reliever Erik Swanson cleared the wall in right-center field during the seventh inning Sunday afternoon, his eyes focused on the barrel of his bat, balanced softly on the palm of his left hand and stuck out around his chest.
That barrel provided the Nationals with the go-ahead run in what became an 11-8 victory at Nationals Park, their MLB-leading 12th comeback win. It started a jubilee in the dugout that only intensified when he flipped the bat past his right shoulder. And it ended what Rosario, just three days ago, called the worst month — and slump — of his career.
“I needed it,” Rosario said through an interpreter.
Rosario entered May hitting .088. On Sunday, he helped move the Nationals back to .500 with that swing. He finished 2 for 4 and is now hitting .117.
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“I’m one of those players that looks forward to those big moments. I’ve had some moments in my career with big home runs,” the right fielder said. “It’s definitely a confidence boost, knowing I can still be that player.”
“We saw it — once he crossed home plate, it was a sigh of relief,” Manager Dave Martinez said.
Over the previous week, Martinez attested that he still had faith in Rosario. That was rewarded this weekend. All in all, Washington erased a 6-1 deficit after the second inning, then an 8-7 deficit after the fifth.
With relative safety, we can say May 5 is too early to make definitive claims about these Nationals. It is, however, quite early to have 12 comeback wins and do what the Nationals have now done twice after storming back from a 7-0 hole to beat Miami a week ago: trail by at least five runs and win.
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For all that is quantifiable in baseball, it has taken something else, Martinez said, to do that.
“These guys never feel like they’re out of the game,” he said. “They’re relentless.”
It also, he said, takes situational hitting and yet another strong effort from six relievers.
Take Luis García Jr., who came out of spring training in a position battle with Trey Lipscomb and is now hitting .337 after Sunday’s 4-for-4 showing. He kick-started the offense with his second home run of the series, a solo shot in the third inning off Alek Manoah, then brought the Nationals within two with a two-run, two-out single in the fourth, then tied the score at 8 with a single in the sixth.
“I’ve had him now for four years,” Martinez said. “I’ve always said there’s something in there. I just have to figure out how to get it out of him … and he’s starting to figure it out. … He knows what he wants to do now.”
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“It’s obviously surprising — it’s surprised me a lot,” García said through an interpreter. “I think that the one thing I’m learning most during this whole streak is just staying focused and stay with the same level head no matter what happens on the field.”
Or take Jesse Winker, who was signed to a minor league contract after two injury-riddled years with Seattle and Milwaukee. He hit a three-run homer in the fourth to give the Nationals a short-lived 7-6 lead. He then doubled to lead off the seventh and scored on Rosario’s homer. Or take Jacob Young, who didn’t crack the Opening Day roster but used some of the fastest legs in baseball to score three times.
All of this came on a rare day this season when MacKenzie Gore was done after three innings. His nasty stuff has been even sharper this year, and his location has been better. But a 44-pitch second inning got away from him. Following a rain delay, the trouble started on wet grass when Gore couldn’t handle a ball back to him and committed an error that allowed Daulton Varsho to score from third.
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Two more runners reached, then Vladimir Guerrero Jr. took a change-up left up in the zone 416 feet to left for a grand slam. The left-hander allowed six hits and six runs, but just two were earned. He walked two and struck out four.
“I wasn’t great today, but heck of a win,” Gore said. “We need to understand as a group, myself included, that the way we played this weekend is not how you’re going to win consistently, but it’s about winning. It’s not about how you win; it’s about if you do it or not. So, what a great game by the bullpen, hitters just competed and had good at-bats all day, and great, great series win.”
After taking the lead on Winker’s homer, the Nationals (17-17) gave it back an inning later, with a walk, a single, a sacrifice fly and an error charged to shortstop CJ Abrams putting the Blue Jays (16-19) up 8-7. García’s RBI single, Rosario’s homer and an eighth-inning sacrifice fly by Joey Meneses accounted for the final margin.
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The Nationals are off Monday before resuming their quest to move over .500 at home against the surging Baltimore Orioles on Tuesday.
“This is such a fun team to be a part of. It’s such a great opportunity to be a National,” Winker said. “You can’t just bring a collective in of 26 guys — well, it’s really more — and say, ‘Everyone, become close.’ … All this good stuff, man, it just happens organically. And that’s what it’s about.”
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