Stroking his beard, then untangling his long hair with his fingers, shower-fresh Jayson Werth expressed something not often heard around the Washington Nationals.
“We all know what’s at stake, and where we’re at,” Werth said Saturday night.
Werth was calm when he hinted at being aware of the urgency. The Nationals’ grip on the season is around the bottom knot of the rope. Finally, a public declaration by one of the team’s heavies seconded the fervor, if with less emotion, circulating through the stands as a would-be super team tries to stick close to the division-leading New York Mets. Making the playoffs as a wild card team is all but out. The division title is the only path to the postseason. They are five games back of the National League East-leading Mets.
There was progress last week. A series win against the woeful Colorado Rockies was followed by a series win against the almost equally poor Milwaukee Brewers. Sunday’s 9-5 win allowed the Nationals to take consecutive series for the first time since the last week of June. Those with lucid memories will recall the Nationals were in first place then.
On Saturday afternoon, after the clubhouse opened later than usual to reporters, Lil Wayne’s music was fed through the stereo by a cell phone. Typically, the black box with speakers that flashes multiple colors — purple, yellow, blue and green — is dormant until after a win. It thumped Saturday, the same day a fantasy football meeting was scheduled after batting practice and debated beforehand. The first lineup of the day had Werth on the bench and the then-struggling Anthony Rendon on the top of the order. A late change put Werth back up top and Clint Robinson back to the bench.
“I really just wanted to play,” Werth said. “So, put me in there.”
In a we’ve-got-to-do something move, Werth was vaulted to the leadoff spot on Aug. 18. He’s hit .320 since. The first weeks of August were abysmal for Werth. He had six hits in 15 games. He’s picked up eight hits since being switched to the leadoff spot less than a week ago.
Riding along with Werth is Rendon, who finished the game on Friday night by hitting a sinker to center field. Manager Matt Williams said Rendon was frustrated with that swing, feeling he was close to a much more successful stroke. He also mentioned he had not seem the same crispness in Rendon’s swing that was ever-present last season.
Rendon reached base four times on Saturday and hit his second home run of the weekend in the fifth inning on Sunday after walking twice. Williams’ thought — that Rendon’s final at-bat on Friday was a harbinger of good news — turned out to be correct.
Surges from Rendon and Werth have been absent this season. Each has been hurt. Since returning, both have said they felt the same during their good moments as they did in their bad. The results of late, in a small sample against mediocre pitching, have provided the Nationals’ lineup with a different look at the top.
Also in tow is catcher Wilson Ramos. His 10th home run of the season soared out to sun-filled center field on Sunday. He hit a single the other way and walked in between the average-bumping hits. Ramos is watching video of more successful prior seasons in order to fix this wayward one. Ramos is hitting .237, 24 points below his career average.
Only 39 games remain. Six of those are against the Mets, including a home series the second week of September and the final series of the season. The latter may end up being a three-game reminder of the Nationals’ failure in an injury-riddled year dragged down further by underperformance. Or, they could the most important regular-season games since baseball returned to Washington in 2005.
Williams remains with his one-day-at-a-time talking points, though he allowed that the team is aware of the grouchy math attached to their current situation. He said the buttoned-up Nationals have carried the proper daily desire throughout the season.
“They’ve always had that sense,” Williams said. “Doesn’t change from day to day. We have no choice, today included, [but] to forget about it. It’s over. So, when it’s going wrong, you have to do that, too. Sense of urgency, all of those terms, they happen every single day. They want to win every day.”
Next week, an enticing home stretch rolls on. The San Diego Padres and Miami Marlins, both under .500, are in town. But, the Mets have an even softer lineup of patsies in front of them. They play the Philadelphia Phillies three times prior to hosting the Boston Red Sox. Both teams are in last place in their divisions.
For now, small changes have led to needed successes for a week. The pressure will only increase as the calendar turns.
• Todd Dybas can be reached at tdybas@washingtontimes.com.
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