SAN FRANCISCO — The buses were quiet as they rolled away from Nationals Park in the early hours of Sunday morning, bound for Dulles International Airport.
“Nobody said anything,” center fielder Denard Span said. “Nothing needs to be said.”
After succumbing to the San Francisco Giants, 2-1, in 18 gut-wrenching innings, the Washington Nationals were physically and emotionally drained, the sting of the loss still fresh in their minds. Their opportunity to even the National League Division Series had slipped through their grasp, and they are now on the cusp of elimination, an early end to what was supposed to be a long postseason run.
As they crisscrossed the country, the mood on the flight was mixed. Some players slept. Others talked about what had transpired in the first two games of the playoffs, and what can be done to fix those mistakes. There were no speeches, however. There didn’t need to be.
“I think each one of us individually knows what we need to do in order to be successful,” Span said. “I think it’s just something you have to have within yourself.”
The Nationals have won 96 games, capturing a division title and the best record in the National League along the way, but they haven’t faced a moment like this. They haven’t yet played with the knowledge that their season will end if they do not win their next three games, beginning with Game 3 on Monday.
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“If anybody can do it, we can,” right fielder Jayson Werth said. “We’ve just got to stay positive and play our game. I really do, I believe we can do it.”
The Nationals held an optional workout Sunday afternoon, with some players opting for normal repetitions and others instead choosing to rest their bodies after playing for more than six hours the night before. After enduring the longest game in playoff history, they must recover both mentally and physically to stave off elimination Monday.
“The thing I take confidence in is it’s 164 games we’ve played this year, and we’ve won a lot of them,” veteran utility man Kevin Frandsen said. “There is also opportunity ahead of us. I think it’ll be fun. We get to do it together. We can do something special.”
Fueling that belief is the fact that Doug Fister, who has arguably been Washington’s most consistent starter, will take the mound in Game 3. The lanky right-hander boasts a 2.41 earned-run average and has more postseason experience than the rest of the team’s rotation combined.
In Fister’s seven playoff starts over the past three seasons with the Detroit Tigers, his team has gone 6-1.
“He’s unfazed,” manager Matt Williams said. “Doesn’t matter where he pitches. It could be here, it could be D.C., it could be the moon, doesn’t matter. He’s going to work fast and change speeds and throw strikes. It never changes with him.”
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To a man, the Nationals have expressed overwhelming confidence in Fister. But the Giants will also trot out their most reliable starter: left-hander Madison Bumgarner, who pitched a four-hit shutout to lead San Francisco past the Pittsburgh Pirates in the NL wild card game. He will face a Nationals lineup that has produced only three runs and 15 hits in 27 postseason innings so far.
But Sunday, it was about recovery. Shortstop Ian Desmond said he was most concerned about how his body would respond after essentially playing two consecutive nine-inning games Saturday night. But when he woke up Sunday, he felt fine.
“At this point, our bodies are pretty broken in,” Desmond said. “There’s a reason why it’s a 162-game schedule. That was a long game yesterday, but we got a day off today to recover and get back out there tomorrow.”
For other players, the concern was elsewhere. When asked if it’s tougher to recover mentally or physically following a crushing loss like Saturday’s, Span was frank.
“Mentally,” he said. “But we’ll be all right.”
The Nationals woke up Oct. 1 as the popular pick to reach, and perhaps win, the World Series. They woke up five days later knowing that they must do what they have done many times over the course of this season: grind out a win.
Washington has shown its resilience time and time again this year, from individual at-bats to individual games. The Nationals have 36 come-from-behind victories this season, including seven in which they trailed after seven innings. They have won 26 games by one run. And they have won 45 of their 81 games on the road.
All of those ingredients will be needed this week, beginning Monday, with their season on the line and championship aspirations in the balance.
“It’s going to be tough,” Werth said. “We’ve got to go on the road and play a good team at their place. It’s not going to be easy, but I believe we can do it. You’ve got to believe.”
• Tom Schad can be reached at tschad@washingtontimes.com.
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