MIAMI – Aníbal Sánchez’s career was one that was well traveled. Sixteen major league seasons brought him many personal accomplishments, which all led to the ultimate prize in his last true full campaign.

So when the 39-year-old finally made the decision to retire and he sat down to write out his announcement before posting it on his Instagram account, he had a lot to look back on and be proud of.

“I think just yesterday when I post my (announcement) and I noticed everybody that I'm retiring, I saw 17 years pass in two minutes and a half. It was incredible,” Sánchez said Wednesday afternoon in the Nationals dugout at loanDepot Park with media members from both Washington and Miami surrounding him and his family looking on. “Sounds easy, but it's not like that. The most thing that I'm proud of me through my whole career, I past bad moments and I had always the power to come back and keep going in my career.”

Sánchez retired after 16 major league seasons. He spent parts of seven with the Marlins, parts of six with the Tigers, one with the Braves and the last three with the Nationals. He is the owner of a no-hitter, one of the most impressive postseason performances in history and a World Series championship ring.

“I think for me, every single day I come to the field and most of the things that I say to the guys is just working hard,” he said. “It's a sport for everybody else, but it's work and a job for us. So take it serious, work hard and we're going to have time for everything. For having fun, for working out, for preparing our game, for being outside and making it a good show for the fans and also make some wins for the team.”

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – The Nationals have been anxiously awaiting the results of Derek Hill’s MRI on his right hamstring. The 27-year-old outfielder had to depart Wednesday’s game against the Yankees in Tampa after pulling up while running to first base trying to beat out a grounder to third.

Hill wasn’t able to get his MRI until Thursday night and the Nationals had to wait all day Friday for a doctor to read it, which caused the delay in the results. And the news wasn’t good: Somewhere between a Grade 1 and Grade 2 right hamstring strain that will set him back for an undetermined amount of time.

“He's got a, I'd say, between a (Grade) 1 and 2, so let's call it 1.5 strain with his right hamstring,” manager Davey Martinez said this morning. “There's really no timetable. Actually, I can say he's been kind of doing limited stuff, but they're working on it. So hopefully, he'll be back sooner than later.”

Hill has been competing for the fourth outfielder’s spot with Alex Call and Stone Garrett, and his chances of making the club have now taken a serious hit. As unfortunate as that is for him, the Nationals are going to be cautious before allowing him to return to the field.

"We want to make sure that he's healthy," Martinez said. "And I will talk to him today and reiterate that: 'Look, I love what I saw so far. I really did. So let's get you healthy. I don't know how long it's gonna take, but let's get you healthy. And we'll get you back out as soon as you can.'"

Despite the diagnosis and lack of a timetable, the Nationals are remaining optimistic Hill can return before the end of spring training.

“It's actually best-case scenario because it was the belly of the muscle,” Martinez said. “It wasn't low, where it's about your knee, which obviously takes a lot longer, or up in your glute area, which takes a long time. So we're very optimistic that he could come back here, hopefully, soon. But like you said, time will tell how he heals.”

The Nats actually had some good news today in that there was no health news to report on Carl Edwards Jr. After the right-hander was charged with four runs on three hits and two walks while only recording one out in the fifth inning of yesterday’s game against the Mets, Martinez expressed some postgame concern because Edwards’ velocity was down.

But a conversation with the reliever after arriving back from Port St. Lucie revealed the reliever feels fine physically.

“We talked to him last night and our trainer talked to him last night,” Martinez said. “He said he's fine. He said nothing's wrong. Just takes him a little while to get going in spring training. And I do remember last year when he was here, he came early to that early camp. So before we got into any games, he was already throwing quite a bit. But we're gonna keep a close eye on him to make sure that he's building up and getting ready for the season. He really reiterated yesterday he was fine.”

Edwards’ fastball was averaging 92 mph yesterday and only topped out at 94. It averaged 94 mph last year. His curveball averaged 77 mph yesterday, but averaged 80 mph last year. And his changeup averaged 87 mph yesterday while averaging 90 mph last year, but Martinez says that Edwards is actually working on slowing down his changeup.

“I think he's trying to be a little bit quicker with his delivery,” the skipper said. “And I told him, 'You don't have to be any quicker, you're quick enough.' And he's trying to take a little bit more off his changeup. So I don't know if that has anything to do with it. But I told him, I said, 'Hey, what you did last year worked great. So why are you gonna mess with that? Just go out there and attack the strike zone.'

“The biggest thing with him was that he threw strikes and he was ahead of hitters. When he's ahead of hitters, he's really good. When he falls behind hitters, it's when he gets himself in trouble. But we'll see. Hopefully, his next outing will be a little bit better. But I definitely want to keep an eye on him.”

* Aníbal Sánchez is visiting Nationals camp today, and before anyone gets too worked up about it, he is not here to sign with the team.

Sánchez, of course a member of the 2019 World Series champion team known for his “butterfly” changeup, was seen catching up with Martinez and former teammate Matt Adams outside the Nats clubhouse this morning.

With a smile on his face, as always, Sánchez was sharply dressed in all white, looking more like he was going to soak in a day of baseball here in West Palm instead of preparing to play some.

The Nationals’ best hope for significant improvement in 2023 is through a significantly improved rotation. It’s really as simple as that.

The 2022 Nats rotation was awful. That group’s 5.97 ERA didn’t just rank last in the majors, it ranked last in club history. By leaps and bounds.

Only three previous times had the Nationals ended a season with a rotation ERA over 5.00: In 2006 (5.37), 2007 (5.11) and the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign (5.38). Davey Martinez and Jim Hickey would’ve killed to get those kind of numbers last season, which tells you just how bad things were.

The organization, though, believes it is ready to take a big step forward in starting pitching. That belief is based in the hope that three young building blocks (MacKenzie Gore, Cade Cavalli, Josiah Gray) are ready to lead the way, taking pressure off Patrick Corbin and Stephen Strasburg to have to hold those responsibilities anymore. The offseason addition of right-hander Trevor Williams, in theory, should provide some stability at the back of the rotation.

It all sounds good on paper, but what are the odds it will play out as hoped in reality?

The first full week of the official offseason is complete, and with that, the deadline for teams to negotiate with their respective free agents has passed.

Thursday was the last day the Nationals had exclusive rights to re-sign any of their free agents before they became available to speak with other teams. Of their eight free agents, the Nats had already made decisions on two of them.

On Sunday, the day after the conclusion of the World Series, the Nats announced they had agreed to terms with Sean Doolittle on a minor league deal that includes an invitation to major league spring training. A couple of hours later, the team also announced they declined the $16 million mutual option for 2023 on Nelson Cruz’s contract, instead buying out the 42-year-old designated hitter for $3 million.

Both moves made sense.

Doolittle has a long history with the team, showed flashes of returning to his previous form in limited action this year (5 ⅓ scoreless innings over six games) and has been recovering from his internal brace procedure. The expectation is that he’ll be ready to go when pitchers and catchers report to West Palm Beach in mid-February.

PLAYER REVIEW: ANÍBAL SÁNCHEZ

Age on opening day 2023: 39

How acquired: Signed as minor league free agent, March 2022

MLB service time: 15 years, 83 days

2022 salary: $2 million

As each day passes and Joey Meneses’ numbers keep climbing, the question keeps getting asked and the answer keeps sounding more plausible.

"I don't think the way he hit was a fluke," Davey Martinez said this morning of his 30-year-old rookie sensation. "I think the kid knows how to hit."

All the evidence to date backs up that assertion, and Meneses only bolstered the case with another standout performance today during the Nationals’ 13-4 trouncing of the Phillies in the rain-delayed opener of a rescheduled day-night doubleheader.

With a single, a double, a homer, a walk and four RBIs, Meneses added to his growing resume. Throw in a 440-foot moonshot from Luke Voit, a three-run homer and two RBI singles from Luis García and another dominant bullpen performance, and the Nats cruised to victory over a Philadelphia club that fell back into a tie with the Brewers for the final wild card berth in the National League with five games to go.

Meneses, as he’s so often done since bursting onto the scene Aug. 2, led the way at the plate. His bases-loaded double past a lunging Alec Bohm at third base keyed a five-run bottom of the second. Then his leadoff homer to right-center in the fifth extended the Nationals’ lead after the Phillies tried to claw their way back into the game.

What do you say we try this again?

The first attempt to play a day-night doubleheader at Nationals Park this weekend didn’t work. Though the Phillies beat the Nats 5-1 on Friday afternoon, the nightcap was postponed about 30 minutes before scheduled first pitch. So now they’ll attempt to do it again today and tonight, despite the forecast still looking really bad.

The Nationals will go with Aníbal Sánchez in this afternoon’s opener, holding Tommy Romero for a potential nightcap. Sánchez has been on quite the roll over the last six weeks. Add up his last seven starts, and the 38-year-old is 3-1 with a 1.31 ERA and 0.932 WHIP. He hasn’t surrendered more than two runs or more than four hits in any of those seven starts, truly a run of dominance to wind down his season.

Kyle Gibson starts for the Phillies, with Noah Syndergaard held back for the nightcap. Gibson faced the Nationals back on Aug. 5 and dominated, allowing one run on two hits over eight sparkling innings, though he was roughed up by the Blue Jays and Braves his last two starts.

PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES at WASHINGTON NATIONALS
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 1:05 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, MLB.com
Weather: Rain, 60 degrees, wind 16 mph in from center field

MIAMI – The notion of Aníbal Sánchez wrapping up the season as the Nationals’ most consistently effective starter would’ve sounded ludicrous two months ago, when the notion of Sánchez still being a member of the Nats rotation seemed far-fetched.

Funny how things play out, though, because as the 2022 campaign winds down there’s really no disputing the fact that the Nationals’ best starter has been a 38-year-old right-hander who sat out the entire 2021 season and then missed 3 1/2 months this season with a neck injury.

Sánchez added another impressive chapter to his out-of-nowhere resurgence this afternoon, tossing five scoreless innings and allowing only two hits to the Marlins during a feel-good, 6-1 victory over the franchise for whom he made his major league debut 16 long years ago.

Thanks to the efforts of Sánchez, four relievers, another Joey Meneses home run and three hits from CJ Abrams, the Nationals left town with one win to salvage the weekend. They end their season series against the Marlins with an abysmal 4-15 record, but today’s win at least ensured they didn’t drop a 16th game to one opponent for the first time in club history.

They also avoided reaching the 100-loss mark for the first time since 2009, though it will take a perfect 10-0 finish now against the Braves, Phillies and Mets to prevent that inevitable event from occurring.

MIAMI – Though it’s been inevitable for a while now, the Nationals’ march to 100 losses nevertheless isn’t something anyone wanted to be a part of. Alas, the time has arrived to reach that unceremonious milestone, perhaps as soon as today if they can’t salvage one win this weekend against a Marlins team that has absolutely dominated them all season.

If they’re going to delay the inevitable for at least one more day, the Nats simply are going to need to score more runs than they have against this Miami pitching staff. How bad has it been? In 18 head-to-head games, they’ve scored an average of 2.55 runs, posting a .205/.279/.312 slash line. Is it any wonder they’ve gone 3-15 in those games?

Today’s Marlins starter looking to continue the trend is Edward Cabrera, who of course dominated the Nationals in his one previous outing against them this year: one run, two hits in six innings during a 12-2 win here on June 7.

Aníbal Sánchez starts for the Nats, and while that thought may have sent shivers down everyone’s spines earlier this summer, remarkably the veteran right-hander has become their most consistently effective starter down the stretch. Over his last six starts, Sánchez is 2-1 with a 1.53 ERA, having allowed a grand total of five runs on 14 hits over 29 1/3 innings. How about that?

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at MIAMI MARLINS
Where: loanDepot Park
Gametime: 1:40 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, MLB.com
Weather: Indoors

The Nationals have seen Sandy Alcantara enough to know there isn’t a particularly good way to try to beat him. The Marlins ace has a 100-mph sinker, a 90-mph slider, a 94-mph changeup, command of everything and a rubber arm that allows him to keep on pitching all day and all night.

So when formulating a gameplan for today’s series finale, manager Davey Martinez decided there wasn’t much sense trying to wait out Alcantara and drive his pitch count up. Better to attack him early and hope for the best.

"The big thing about Sandy is, we know he's going to be around the strike zone," Martinez said this morning. "You can't sit there and wait, because you know he's going to pound strikes. So, be aggressive early, and get a ball that you can hit. You don't have to swing overly hard. Just try to make good, solid contact."

That’s all well and good, but if that approach doesn’t produce runs, all it does is keep Alcantara’s pitch count low enough to allow him to go the distance.

Which is previously what happened this afternoon during the Nationals’ 3-1 loss to Miami. Despite getting another quality start out of Aníbal Sánchez and keeping the game within reach, they could not push across more than one run off Alcantara, who was so efficient he took the mound for the bottom of the ninth with a modest pitch count of 90.

The Nationals haven’t found themselves in this position very much this season, but here they are today: After back-to-back wins over the Marlins the last two nights, they have a chance to sweep a series for the first time in 2022.

To do that, though, they’ll have to either outpitch Sandy Alcantara or score some runs off him. Neither is an easy task. Alcantara remains the favorite to win his first career Cy Young Award this fall, entering today’s start with a 2.43 ERA across an MLB-high 203 2/3 innings. He is the very definition of a modern ace, and the Nationals have had all kinds of trouble against him.

This is Alcantara’s fourth start against the Nats this season. He’s 2-0 with an 0.78 ERA, having allowed only two runs and 19 batters to reach base across 23 innings. He pitched a six-hit, zero-walk shutout the last time he faced them, June 8 here in D.C.

So, if the Nationals aren’t going to outslug the Marlins today, they’re going to have to outpitch them. Aníbal Sánchez, the long-ago Marlins right-hander, faces that task this afternoon. He has pitched quite well recently, with only three runs allowed over his last five starts, spanning 23 1/3 innings. His last outing lasted only two innings, though, because of that long rain delay in Philadelphia one week ago. So he’s plenty rested for this one.

MIAMI MARLINS at WASHINGTON NATIONALS
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 1:35 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, MLB.com
Weather: Partly cloudy, 82 degrees, wind 8 mph out to center field

PHILADELPHIA – On the final day of a 10-game road trip, at the end of a ballgame that started more than seven hours earlier, the Nationals were left with an exhausted bullpen and a weekend sweep at the hands of a division rival that has owned them all year long.

Forced to take over in the third inning for starter Aníbal Sánchez thanks to a three-hour, 36-minute rain delay, the Nats bullpen was battered around by the Phillies during a 7-5 loss that tested the patience of anyone who dared sit through the entire affair.

A game that began at 1:08 p.m. ended at 8:12 p.m., that extra-long rain delay throwing a wrench into everyone’s Sunday plans when it commenced prior to the top of the third inning. With no more trips to Philadelphia on the Nationals’ schedule, and the Phillies very much in the National League wild card race, this game was going to be completed, no matter how long it took.

The rain was an annoyance for fans and players alike, but its most tangible impact on the game itself was the manner in which it knocked out both teams’ starters after only two innings and put added strain on the respective bullpens to pitch the rest of the afternoon and evening.

"It's a good thing we've got a day off tomorrow, so we get to regroup a little bit," manager Davey Martinez said. "That's a lot, but both teams went out there and we battled. A home run just got us in the seventh."

PHILADELPHIA – The forecast here is not good. It’s supposed to rain all day. The forecast tomorrow is somewhat better, though not guaranteed to be dry. That’s the only remaining common off-day for the Nationals and Phillies. In other words, this has the potential to be a mess, and we could be here for a while, then possibly coming back tomorrow.

Whenever they play, the Nationals will be trying to avoid a series sweep that would put a real damper on what had been shaping up to be their best road trip of the season. A win would at least allow them to head home with a 5-5 record.

To do that, Aníbal Sánchez is going to have to keep up his surprising resurgence (0.84 ERA, 0.797 WHIP over his last four starts) by keeping the ball in the yard. The Phillies have out-homered the Nats a staggering 32-9 in 14 head-to-head games this year.

The Nationals will be going up against Aaron Nola for the fourth time this season. The right-hander has a sparkling 1.66 ERA in the previous three starts, though his record is only 1-1.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES
Where: Citizens Bank Park
Gametime: 1:05 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, MLB.com
Weather: Steady rain, 73 degrees, wind 5 mph right field to left field

ST. LOUIS – The 2022 season was never going to be about wins and losses for the Nationals. It was always going to be about development, and the hope that there would be more reason to be optimistic by season’s end than there was at the outset.

It’s still far too soon to declare anything in that regard, and the current roster has a whole lot of work still to do to try to erase the foul stench of April through August. But there is no doubt the last couple of weeks have offered as many encouraging developments as anyone around here has seen all year, peaking this Labor Day weekend.

Today’s 6-0 victory over the Cardinals was the Nationals’ third straight over a first-place opponent, coming on the heels of back-to-back, 7-1 road wins over the Mets. They’ve now won six of eight for only the second time this year, and they’ve won nine of 16 for the first time in 2022.

"I think it shows you what we can do when everyone's clicking at the same time," outfielder Lane Thomas said. "It's been fun. The last 10 days or so, it's been awesome."

The results, of course, are welcomed by everyone, but just as encouraging are the primary players who are making these results possible. The young core general manager Mike Rizzo is trying to assemble in the wake of the massive sell-off of the last two summers is beginning to take shape and beginning to look like something worth building around.

ST. LOUIS – The Nationals arrive at Busch Stadium today on arguably their best hot streak of the season. They’ve won five of their last seven, and over their last 15 games they’re 8-7. OK, so for most every other team in baseball, that would be nothing to crow about. But for this team this season, it’s as good as it gets.

They’ll try to keep it going this afternoon in the opener of a four-game series against the red-hot Cardinals, who are starting to run away with the National League Central, thanks in no small part to Albert Pujols’ end-of-career resurgence. The future Hall of Famer is suddenly up to 695 career homers as he tries to join Barry Bonds, Hank Aaron and Babe Ruth as the only major leaguers ever to get to 700 before he retires.

It’ll be Aníbal Sánchez on the mound for the Nats, the first time he’s pitched here since Game 1 of the 2019 NL Division Series, when he nearly threw a no-hitter. Sánchez is on a nice run of his own, having allowed only two runs on six hits in his last 16 1/3 innings.

Jack Flaherty gets the ball for the Cardinals for only his fourth start of the season, his first since June 26, due to a shoulder injury that has been plaguing him for quite some time. The right-hander, obviously, will have plenty of eyes on him today and probably will be pulled early.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at ST. LOUIS CARDINALS
Where: Busch Stadium
Gametime: 4:15 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, MLB.com
Weather: Chance of rain, 79 degrees, wind 6 mph in from center field

Throughout this long season, from the interminably long stint on the injured list with a neck strain to his struggles on the mound once he did return, Davey Martinez insisted Aníbal Sánchez just needed time. Give the right-hander time, the manager said, and he would prove he can still pitch at this level.

So the Nationals gave Sánchez all the time he needed, from that three-month IL stint to his first five starts that resulted in five losses and a 7.56 ERA. And wouldn’t you know what happened after that? The 38-year-old indeed is proving he can still pitch at this level, capped off by his best performance in two years this evening.

With seven innings of one-run ball, Sánchez shut down the Athletics to earn his first win since September 2020 and lead the Nats to a 5-1 victory that also included some bright moments for a few of their much younger building blocks.

This represented the first time Sánchez reached the seventh inning in a big league game since Aug. 23, 2020 in a win over the Marlins. The previous time he had done it? Game 1 of the 2019 NLCS in St. Louis, when he carried a no-hitter into the eighth inning.

"I knew he still had it in him," Martinez said. "I saw him this winter throwing. He was passionate about coming back, and his heart was in it. He was hurt, and now he's just out there fully healthy and pitching well."

It’s the final day of August, a month that began with the biggest trade in Nationals history and will conclude with another dismal record. The Nats enter tonight’s game 8-18 this month. It’s not as bad as their 6-19 mark from July, but it’s barely better than that.

You know who would love to get a win tonight? Aníbal Sánchez. The 38-year-old is 0-5 with a 5.72 ERA in eight starts, but he’s actually pitched much better of late. Over his last three starts (all no-decisions), he’s got a 2.51 ERA while holding opponents to a .180 batting average. You’d think a matchup against an Athletics lineup that is among the worst in baseball would be advantageous, but that didn’t prove to be the case for Erick Fedde on Tuesday.

The Nats get their first-ever look at James Kaprielian, Oakland’s 28-year-old right-hander who was originally a first-round pick of the Yankees and then got roughed up by them in his last start to the tune of eight runs in 2 2/3 innings. Kaprielian has a command problem; he’s walked 10 batters over his last 7 2/3 innings. Patience from a sometimes overanxious Nationals lineup will be key tonight.

OAKLAND ATHLETICS at WASHINGTON NATIONALS
Where: Nationals Park
Gametime: 7:05 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN2, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, MLB.com
Weather: Mostly clear, 81 degrees, wind 9 mph left field to right field

NATIONALS
2B Luis García
RF Joey Meneses
1B Luke Voit
DH Nelson Cruz
C Keibert Ruiz
CF Lane Thomas
SS CJ Abrams
3B Ildemaro Vargas
LF Josh Palacios

SEATTLE – The focus of the remainder of the Nationals’ season is going to be on the handful of young players they’re now trying to build around, a group that will see its highest-profile addition yet Friday night when top pitching prospect Cade Cavalli makes his major league debut.

But that doesn’t mean there isn’t still some room for an older player or two to take advantage of the opportunity he’s being given to make a name for himself, and possibly earn his way into the Nats’ 2023 plans as well.

We’ve already seen Joey Meneses do it with six homers in his first three weeks in the big leagues. Now how about Ildemaro Vargas, the 31-year-old utility infielder who has suddenly become the Nationals’ everyday third baseman and just finished off a strong road trip with a bang.

Vargas’ two-run homer off Mariners closer Paul Sewald with two outs in the top of the ninth this afternoon lifted the Nats to an unexpected 3-1 victory in the finale of a brief, two-game series. It was Vargas’ second homer of this West Coast trip, his previous one coming in his first at-bat in San Diego during Thursday night’s win over the Padres.

"I've always worked hard to get an opportunity like this one, to where I get an opportunity to play every day," Vargas said, via interpreter Octavio Martinez. "I'm very thankful to the team, the organization, for the opportunity I've gotten. I'm just trying to take advantage and keep working hard and contribute any way I can."

SEATTLE – It feels like the Nationals just got here, but they’re already set for the finale of a two-game series with the Mariners. Tough scheduling, coming all the way out here for 36 hours. They’ll try to at least split the series with a victory today, hoping they can score some runs, especially early, which has been a recurring problem for them.

They’ll take their cracks at Seattle right-hander George Kirby, the 24-year-old who makes his first career start against the Nats. He’s been quite good this summer, allowing 11 total runs over his last seven starts for a 2.63 ERA (though they tend to hold him to fewer than 100 pitches).

Aníbal Sánchez gets the start for the Nationals, still seeking his first win and perhaps pitching for his spot in the rotation as the club prepares to make some more changes. Cade Cavalli, the 2020 first-round draft pick and organizational top prospect, is set to make his major league debut Friday night against the Reds, a source confirmed today. We’ll have more on that shortly, but obviously Cavalli’s arrival will bump somebody out of the rotation, and Sánchez and Paolo Espino would seem to be the most likely options.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS at SEATTLE MARINERS
Where: T-Mobile Park
Gametime: 4:10 p.m. EDT
TV: MASN, MLB.tv
Radio: 106.7 FM, MLB.com
Weather: Sunny, 77 degrees, wind 7 mph left field to right field

NATIONALS
2B César Hernández
RF Joey Meneses
1B Luke Voit
DH Nelson Cruz
C Keibert Ruiz
SS CJ Abrams
LF Lane Thomas
3B Ildemaro Vargas
CF Victor Robles

SAN DIEGO – The Nationals walked into Petco Park this evening and stepped right into a pennant race. No, the outcome of this weekend’s four-game series means nothing in the grand scheme to the team with the majors’ worst record, but try telling the 26 guys dressed in navy blue jerseys and curly W caps it meant nothing to go toe-to-toe with a star-studded Padres club that’s all-in on the 2022 season and desperately wanted to emerge victorious in tonight’s series opener.

And at night’s end, it wasn’t the home team celebrating victory, but rather the plucky visitors, who hung around for eight innings and then scratched across two runs against closer Josh Hader in the ninth to pull off a gutsy 3-1 win before a stunned sellout crowd of 41,820.

"This is what builds character," manager Davey Martinez said. "These guys were all jacked up. They were pumped up. Nobody was sitting there from the seventh through the ninth inning. All those guys were up on the fence, standing, cheering. It's awesome. This is what you play for: To play these kinds of games."

Stymied for eight innings by Yu Darvish, the Nationals finally broke through in the top of the ninth. They got singles from César Hernández and Alex Call (who replaced Yadiel Hernandez late after the left fielder's calf cramped up). That forced San Diego manager Bob Melvin to pull his starter to a standing ovation and summon Hader to try to keep the game tied.

Instead, Hader poured more gasoline on the fire and dealt Darvish the loss. The flamethrowing lefty hit former Padre Luke Voit with a 2-2 slider on the foot to load the bases, then walked Nelson Cruz on four pitches to force in the go-ahead run. And when Keibert Ruiz ripped a line drive to left for a sacrifice fly, the Nats had themselves an insurance run and a two-run lead.