Rafael Soriano made an appearance in the eighth inning of the Washington Nationals’ 6-2 loss to the Atlanta Braves on Wednesday, his first outing since blowing a three-run, ninth-inning lead against the Philadelphia Phillies on Friday.
“I feel fine,” Soriano said. “I feel fine because I talk to Matt, and he tell me he going to give me a couple days and he said, ’You’re going to be the closer.’ I be happy because we win.”
Manager Matt Williams, however, wouldn’t offer a firm plan for Soriano moving forward.
“We’ll see,” he said. “We’ll see how the games play out.”
After allowing the Phillies to tie the score Friday, Soriano spent the following two days resting and studying film. He threw a bullpen session Monday afternoon and Williams made him available to pitch again that night.
Soriano surrendered two hits Wednesday but kept the Braves from extending their 6-1 lead. He also said he felt good about watching Drew Storen replace him the previous three days and seal three wins.
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When asked if he would comfortable pitching as a set-up man, Soriano was uncertain.
“I don’t know,” he said. “I don’t know. I’ll figure it out with coach. I don’t talk to nobody else how I’m going to be in the bullpen.”
Since Soriano’s blown save Friday, Storen has recorded saves in three straight appearances, all of which were one or two-run games. He took a day off Wednesday as the Nationals entered the ninth down 6-1. This season, he has a 1.29 earned-run average in 49 innings.
Soriano hasn’t been as efficient. He was dominant before the all-star break, posting a 0.97 ERA. But before Wednesday’s outing, he had a 6.98 ERA in the second half of the season.
Williams said he saw improvement from Soriano on Wednesday.
“Better down angle,” Williams said. “Threw some really good sliders today — had depth to them. The mechanical stuff he’s working on was much better today … And then he battled through the inning, but I thought he was better down in the strike zone today.”
Soriano got B.J. Upton to fly out to center to start the eighth. Then a Ryan Doumit double and Jose Costanza single to right put Soriano in another job-threatening jam. But he struck out Phil Gosselin and forced Freddie Freeman to line out to third, keeping the door open as to whether or not he’ll return as the closer — even if his performance came in a low-pressure atmosphere.
“Today’s situation was 6-1, but the clean inning’s important for him,” Williams said. “I thought he was much better down in the zone today.”
• David Daniels can be reached at ddaniels@washingtontimes.com.
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