'It was beautiful, it really was': Nats praise effort in extra innings

WASHINGTON -- The box score shows a two-game series split. The effort level and play on the field signified for the Nationals a win.

“I just sat and praised them,” said manager Dave Martinez. “That’s all you can do, right? They battled all night long, and to me, that shows unbelievable character, it really does. We fell short, yeah, but they put two on, we come back, they put two on, they come back. That says a lot about this ball club. It was beautiful, it really was.”

The night after the Nats shut out the Orioles to climb above .500 for the first time since July 2021, they rallied to force extras in a 7-6, 12-inning loss on Wednesday. The Nationals (18-18) saw growth in the Beltways Series against the American League-leading Orioles (24-12).

“The Orioles come in, they’re pretty hot,” said Martinez. “They’re one of the best teams in baseball, they have one of the best records. They could have easily just said [in the ninth inning], ‘We’re down 3-1.’ We don’t do that. We keep fighting, and you saw it tonight. That should be a pretty good wakeup call for those guys that we can play with anybody.”

The Nats are 6-4 in their last 10 games. Rather than feel defeated, they are taking a positive outlook on their three-city road trip to Boston, Chicago and Philadelphia.

“That was awesome. That was fun to watch,” said Hunter Harvey, who began his career with Baltimore. “It sucks that we lost, but that was probably one of the more fun games we’ll have this year just because we didn’t quit. We kept battling back against one of the best teams in the league.”

A game that spanned just over three and a half hours saw 19 hits, 13 runs, 16 pitchers and a swinging pendulum of lead changes.

“It proves that we’re pretty good,” said Jordan Weems. “We’ve got some good hitters, got some young guys and I think our bullpen and our team stacks up with anybody.”

Here are memorable moments from the 96th meeting of the Beltways Series.

Rosario “has done this before”
Trailing 3-1 with two outs in the ninth, Eddie Rosario cut the deficit to one with a solo home run off Craig Kimbrel. His third dinger of the season flew 413 feet into center field and sparked the Nationals’ rally.

“Incredible, this team, wow,” said Rosario. “Fighting all day, all game. We’ve got clutch hitters here. Wow. It’s great to see these guys fighting all night.”

In the 11th, Rosario drew a full-count walk against Albert Suárez to put runners on the corner. After he advanced to third on an Ildemaro Vargas ground-rule double, he dashed home on a Jacob Young shallow sacrifice fly to right field.

In spite of struggling to start the season, Rosario has hit safely in his last four games (6-for-14).

“He’s been swinging the bat a lot better,” said Martinez. “He’s done this before; I’ve seen him do it many times from the other side of the field. He’s working good at-bats, he started taking his walks, he gets a ball he can hit, he’s hammering it.”

Harvey vs. Mountcastle: Round 2
When Harvey faced Orioles first baseman Ryan Mountcastle in September of 2022, he gave up his first homer of the season to his best friend. It couldn’t happen again, right?

Mountcastle, who stayed at Harvey’s home during the series, said otherwise.

In a 5-5 tie in the 11th, Harvey delivered a first-pitch slider. Mountcastle jumped on it and rocked it 386 feet to left-center field to give the Orioles a 5-3 lead.

“I think he got lucky,” Harvey said. “That’s all I can think of because he hit it and I was like, you’ve got to be kidding me.”

Harvey is looking forward to their next matchup in August so he can halt the bragging rights.

“He’s been sending me the video from ’22 since that happened,” Harvey said. “So I’m sure this will carry on.”

Finnegan did it again
In a series where late-inning pitching was key, closer Kyle Finnegan continued his dominance. He earned his league-leading 12th save on Tuesday, and he pitched a scoreless 10th inning with one walk and one strikeout on Wednesday.

Finnegan’s ERA dropped to 1.65 in 16 1/3 innings. He has not given up an earned run since March 31.

“The focus for him is getting that first guy out. … I think that’s helped him out tremendously,” said Martinez. “He’s come in there totally engaged on throwing strikes and not falling behind, not walking guys.”

Finnegan entered the series finale ranked first in the NL with a .120 opponents’ batting average. He will travel to Fenway Park, where he has held the Red Sox to a .143 batting average in two games.