Meneses' late 'birthday present' caps Nats' comeback 

PHOENIX -- The day after Joey Meneses celebrated his 31st birthday, he gave the Nationals a gift.

Meneses rocketed a three-run homer into left field off Miguel Castro in the ninth inning to lift the Nats to a 9-8 victory over the D-backs on Sunday afternoon.

“A little bit late,” Meneses said with a smile. “But definitely a birthday present.”

The Nationals were fighting to avoid a series sweep when they entered the final frame trailing, 8-6, but second baseman Luis García sparked the offense with his fifth double of the season.

“He hustled,” manager Dave Martinez said. “He doesn’t get there if he doesn’t run out [of] the box. That’s something that I tell these guys all the time: You’ve got to hit the ball, the next part of it is you’ve got to run hard. He ran hard, he made it to second base and pumped the guys up.”

Keibert Ruiz, who homered in the ninth on Saturday, singled into left field to put runners on first and third for Meneses. The designated hitter then belted a slider from Castro a Statcast-projected 381 feet into left field.

“When I went to that at-bat, I was looking for the slider,” said Meneses. “Yesterday, he threw me a sinker that I was able to connect fairly well. It didn’t fall for a hit, but I hit it well. In the back of my head, I was expecting him to throw the slider, so I was waiting on it.”

Meneses made his mark as a power hitter when he debuted last year at age 30. He had hit one homer this season, but he also was in the stadium where he walloped two home runs in a World Baseball Classic game for Team Mexico on March 12.

“I have very good memories of this ballpark,” he said. “Especially after today’s home run.”

The top of the ninth had become a familiar situation for the Nationals this weekend at Chase Field. Less than 24 hours earlier, they also staged a five-run comeback attempt. Only this time, they had a winning result -- with Hunter Harvey closing it in the ninth.

“I’m thinking, ‘Here we go again,’” Martinez. “We’ve got the lead. [Hunter] was fresh, we decided to go with Harvey today and he did a great job.”

The right-hander Harvey held on to the one-run lead and earned his first career save. Although he issued a walk, he worked his way out of a potential jam to close out the game on 16 pitches. With that, he and his dad, All-Star reliever Bryan, became the ninth father/son duo in Major League history to record saves, per Elias Sports Bureau.

“I’m still kind of on cloud nine,” said Harvey, 28, who battled injuries throughout his career to get to this point.

The Nationals snapped their skid of being 0-for-19 this season when trailing after eight innings. Saturday could have been deflating, but instead it was a glimpse into what they can do if they hustle for all nine innings.

“These guys have got a bunch of heart,” said Martinez. “They’re playing together, and they feel like they’re never out of it.”