Promising Nationals and Marlins Win in Dramatic Fashion

The Los Angeles Dodgers, with 91 wins, had a tremendous chance to put away the Washington Nationals and hand the NL East bottom-dweller its 100th defeat.

With the Dodgers behind by one, Orlando Hudson reached on an errant throw by Nationals shortstop Cristian Guzman to begin the top of the ninth inning.

Future Hall of Famer Jim Thome, who is now designated to pinch hitting, hit for relief pitcher George Sherrill and grounded a single up the middle, putting runners and first and second and giving Los Angeles the opportunity for a big inning.

Their chances of not only scoring the tying run, but multiple runs, increased as Washington reliever Mike MacDougal, who was once a very dependable closer for the Kansas City Royals, lost the control of his fastball. Rafael Furcal watched four of the seven fastballs he saw miss to walk, loading the bases with nobody out.

The pre-All-Star break Dodgers that had the majors' best record at 56-32 would have scored not only the tying run, but multiple go-ahead runs in this situation.

The post-All-Star break Dodgers, whose record was an underwhelming 35-29 entering tonight’s play? Maybe one run would come of it.

That’s all they would get, too—the minimum—and they were lucky to get that. With the infield in, Ronnie Belliard hit a groundball right at Guzman.

The shortstop had plenty of time to make a solid throw home and get the necessary out, but his throw was off the plate and forced catcher Josh Bard to dive to his left and take his foot off the plate. As a result, a run scored without an out being recorded.

Now, they still had the bases loaded and nobody out, but couldn’t put across the go-ahead run: The usually clutch Andre Ethier struck out, Guzman redeemed himself on Manny Ramirez’s groundball, gunning the runner out at home, then Matt Kemp sharply lined out to (who else?) Guzman.

The Nationals, a team overflowing with young offensive talent, took advantage of the Dodgers' ineptness.

Justin Maxwell, a beastly 6'5", 235-pound 26-year-old center fielder with five-tool talent, led off the bottom of the ninth. He was named Washington’s ninth-ranked prospect after the 2008 season despite hitting just .233 in the year-long Double-A stint.

The Nationals didn’t look at stats, they looked at his physique, focused on his bright spots, and saw tons of potential. So, he made a jump that was once rare, skipping Triple-A to join the Nationals.

His offensive struggles continued, as his batting average was a paltry .203 entering the second game of this three-game set against the Dodgers, but his ninth inning at-bat showed Washington what he could be.

He worked the count full against Dodgers reliever James McDonald, laying off three close pitches in doing so, then found his pitch and laced it into left field for a single. Alberto Gonzalez, their utility man, bunted him over to second.

Maxwell has a huge build, but surprisingly, he’s a gazelle on the basepaths, with the speed of a normal sized center-fielder. He showed off that speed, taking third for his fifth stolen base during Jorge Padilla’s at-bat that resulted in a walk.

Washington, like the Dodgers, now had the go-ahead run 90 feet away, and unlike the Dodgers, they executed.

All pinch-hitter Pete Orr needed to do was hit a fly ball to score Maxwell, so that’s what he did. After bunting an attempted suicide squeeze foul and taking a curveball high and outside, he lifted a fastball into right field.

Ethier, who possesses a strong throwing arm, hovered under it, but was thinking too much about an accurate throw home that he forgot to do the most important thing: catch the ball. It glanced off the top of his glove and trickled behind him, allowing Maxwell to scamper in for the winning run.

Maxwell crossed home plate and slapped hands with Gonzalez, the on-deck hitter, then sprinted out to join his teammates in celebration.

Orr was halfway between first and second and, once he saw his jubilant compadres leap over the railing, he playfully tried to run away. They quickly caught up and mobbed him, celebrating as if they won the pennant instead of a victory that delayed their 100th loss.

The Nationals will reach this unfortunate number soon, but there is a considerable amount of light at the end of this dark and dreary tunnel. They have young talent other teams would die for.

Ryan Zimmerman, 24, is a perennial .300 hitter and Gold Glove third baseman; Elijah Dukes, 25, is a gifted power hitter who has yet to harness his talents; Ian Desmond, 24, hitting .333 in his short career, is their shortstop of the future; Adam Dunn, the veteran of the group at the young age of 29, has had four 40-plus home run seasons and, in this his first year with the Nationals, is hitting .280, 29 points higher that his career mark.

These four, not to mention Maxwell, are only the beginning. They have some noteworthy young pitchers, too: 24-year-old John Lannan is their ace, 22-year-old Shairon Martis and 23-year-olds Ross Detwiler and Jordan Zimmerman are blossoming, and top pick Stephen Strasburg is on the horizon.

The Florida Marlins, their division foe, have a similar crop of talent and a few of their youth were behind a dramatic victory of their own.

The Nationals were fueled by the Dodgers' missed opportunities in the ninth, while the Marlins, down one run entering the bottom the ninth against the NL East leading Philadelphia Phillies, were motivated when they saw Brad Lidge warming up in the bullpen.

Lidge, the Phillies closer, has had a terrible season. He entered this appearance having blown 10 saves and accounting for a 0-7 record. After the Marlins were done with him, he had 11 blown saves and a 0-8 record.

Ross Gload led off the frame with a ringing double scoured past Ryan Howard at first base and into the right field corner.

Chris Coghlan, the front-runner for NL Rookie of the Year, crushed a Lidge offering as well, but was a loud out that moved Gload to third.

John Baker, their 28-year-old backup catcher, pinch-hit for 22-year-old Cameron Maybin, their version of Maxwell, and had a frustrating at-bat to no fault of his own. He fell behind 1-2, then Lidge’s fourth straight slider missed to even the count. Baker got a piece of Lidge’s fifth slider and took a fastball inside for a full count before being squeezed by home plate umpire Sam Holbrook.

The seventh pitch of the battle was a slider and clearly low and outside, but, after being called a ball during the first eight innings, Holbrook rung him up. He argued, as did his manager, but the Marlins would soon get the last laugh.

Lidge unintentionally intentionally walked 25-year-old shortstop Hanley Ramirez, Florida’s best hitter, to put all the pressure on Jorge Cantu, their 27-year old-third baseman who already had three hits to his credit.

He handled it well, lacing the second offering from Lidge into center field to score the tying run. Lidge now had the blown save. All he needed was the loss to go with it.

That was left to Brett Carroll, who was pinch-hitting for reliever Dan Meyer. The 26-year old swung through two sliders before connecting with a hanger. He lined it into left-center field.

The fans—the few that were there—cheered as the ball dropped. Ramirez, as Maxwell did approximately an hour earlier in Washington, glided home, then beat most of his teammates to the middle of the diamond, where Carroll gleefully stood.

Carroll, who was an unexpected hero like Orr, was mobbed, laughing and smiling as his teammates swarmed around him.

The Nationals will lose 100 games. The Marlins, though still in the wild card, will most likely miss out on the postseason.

But neither team's year has been as disappointing as it seems. Both are successfully building for the future, and, if their budding talent and the passion they showed in celebrating their respective game-winners are any indication, the Nationals and Marlins will have more meaningful victories to celebrate in the coming years.