Bryce Harper lofted a fly ball to left field and speedy pinch runner Michael A. Taylor tagged up from third base and raced home, easily beating the throw from St. Louis Cardinals left fielder Marcell Ozuna late Monday afternoon at Nationals Park.
The sacrifice fly by Harper drove in the winning run as the Nationals beat the Cardinals 4-3 in 10 innings.
Harper was mobbed by teammates Juan Soto, Trea Turner and Adam Eaton after his game-winning RBI.
But manager Dave Martinez was a little hesitant to get near Harper, who had been sick to his stomach earlier and has been battling a bad cough for days.
“I felt pretty good at the plate. My body doesn’t feel very good,” said Harper, whose two-run homer in the ninth tied the game at 3. “I think I’m just trying to grind out every single day and not try to worry about it. But coughing, yakking, all that good stuff, so … just trying to not worry about it.”
“(Harper) is one of those guys in the lineup you kind of circle, or you have to,” Nationals reliever and winning pitcher Greg Holland said. “It seems like the bigger the situation the better he is.”
It is the kind of game the Nationals (69-69) have somehow managed to lose most in this disappointing season.
Washington had lost seven of its first nine extra innings contests this season and was 15-21 in one-run games before the Labor Day win before 28,648 fans, including a large number of Cardinals faithful.
It was the first extra-inning win at Nationals Park this season for Washington and the first at any locale since June 2. The last extra-inning win at home came Aug. 13, 2017, against the Giants 6-2 in 11 innings.
Those close losses this season put the magnifying glass on Martinez, one of five big league skippers who had not managed in the majors before this year.
The others are the Mets’ Mickey Callaway, Phillies’ Gabe Kapler, Yankees’ Aaron Boone and Alex Cora of the Red Sox. For good measure, Rockville native Jim Riggleman was the named the Reds interim manager in April and Mike Shildt was named the Cardinals interim manager July 15, then had the interim tag removed last week. St. Louis is 29-16 since Shildt took over.
“(The Cardinals) are really good,” Martinez said. “They are prepared.”
If the season ended now, the Red Sox, Yankees and Cardinals would be in the playoffs while the Phillies would be just out of the second wild-card spot. The Mets (61-75 before Monday) should finish with a better record than last season, when they were 70-92.
Meanwhile, the Nationals have taken a step backwards under Martinez. The club was 97-65 last season and won the division under skipper Dusty Baker, whose goal was to win at least 15 games each month.
But Washington has just one winning month under Martinez. The third-place Nationals (69-69) are still 7½ games back of first-place Atlanta.
Washington starter Max Scherzer, who grew up near St. Louis, didn’t figure in the decision on Monday as he allowed three runs in seven innings. But the Nationals ace did fan 11 batters to give him 260 for the season — and the fifth year in a row he has struck out at least 250.
“That’s pretty cool,” Scherzer said. “Kind of like what I said when I got to 200 — this is a time to tip the hat to the training staff, keeping me healthy, doing whatever it takes, finding — any time I have any little hiccups, we don’t let it get out of control.”
Holland, released earlier this year by the Cardinals, did not allow a run in the ninth and 10th to get the victory.
What has been the key to his recent success?
“I really don’t know if there is one thing I can put my finger on,” he said. “I know I have felt good the last few weeks. Turning the page and starting new and being welcomed here with open arms and fitting in right away has helped.”
The series continues Tuesday at 7:05 p.m. as Erick Fedde starts for the Nationals.
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