Nationals complete 5-run comeback after Daylen Lile’s extra-inning heroics

CINCINNATI — As he watched the flight of the ball, Daylen Lile kept an even-keel demeanor.

But, once he was assured the ball was leaving the park, he turned toward his dugout and ran his hand across his neck, delivering a throat slash with a steely glare to signal the game was over.

Lile’s mammoth two-run homer in the 10th inning was the decisive blow in the Nationals’ 8-7 win over the Reds, completing a five-run comeback Wednesday night.

The gesturing continued after he crossed home plate and flexed toward CJ Abrams.

“I’ve never done that in my life,” Lile said of the throat slash. “That [homer] was pretty cool in the moment. It’s everything you dream of.”

Many of Lile’s family and friends were in attendance because Cincinnati is the closest major league city to Louisville, Kentucky, his hometown.

Lile had been trending in the right direction before the Reds series, but he’s exploded over the first two games, going 5-for-9.

“He’s been playing a hell of a game,” said PJ Poulin, who recorded the save. “To do it in front of his family and friends, that’s super special.”

The Nationals trailed 5-0 in the top of the second inning before a leadoff double by Abrams. A line-drive single by Jacob Young put runners on first and third with no outs.

Lile’s sacrifice fly and Joey Weimer’s RBI double cut the lead to 5-2 before Nasim Nuñez grounded out. With a runner on third, Keibert Ruiz hit a two-out, two-run homer to make the score 5-4.

That the Nationals responded immediately was important for the energy in the dugout.

“When you go down five like that, being able to claw back four right there and make it a one-run game was a huge confidence boost for us,” manager Blake Butera said. “I think, if you grab one [run] there, you still feel like you’re down four [runs]. But being able to grab it as a bunch right there and get right back in the game was awesome for all of us.”

There’s a belief permeating the Nationals (21-22) as they inch closer to a .500 record. That first inning could have easily been deflating. Instead, Jake Irvin gutted out two more innings and gave the bullpen a fresh inning.

Irvin went three innings, allowing six runs (five earned) on four hits, with four walks and four strikeouts. The bullpen did a phenomenal job covering for him.

Left-hander Mitchell Parker threw three scoreless innings, striking out two and walking one. Richard Lovelady and Orlando Ribalta combined to throw two scoreless innings.

“The bullpen, what they did tonight, was just unbelievable,” Butera said.

Clinching a series win of any kind is always a good feeling but particularly for a Nationals team that has had many close losses of late. Completing the comeback was an important hurdle to clear.

“We have a lot of fight,” Lile said. “We’re hungry, and we know what we’re capable of doing, and we’re confident in each other. We have so much belief in each other that stuff like that [first-inning deficit], we just brush it off because we know we could come back at any moment of the game.”

And the game’s biggest moment belonged to Lile. After failing to deliver with runners in scoring position in the third, he had an opportunity for redemption in the 10th.

With each game, there’s a growing sense in the clubhouse that, if they remain bought in and play for each other, they can achieve more than many prognosticators predicted before the season.

“The [team’s] confidence is getting better each and every day,” Lile said, “by trusting each other and staying within ourselves.”