The Nationals use a 7-run 7th inning against the Orioles to get back to .500

On Saturday afternoon, the difference between a win and a loss was simple. One team executed with runners on base throughout the contest. The other waited until it was too late.

The result was a 13-3 Nationals win at Nationals Park in front of 40,559 fans donning a mixture of blue, red, orange and black.

After dominating much of the game against the Orioles, the Nationals found themselves reeling after a three-run seventh inning by Baltimore cut the lead to 4-3.

The Nationals had been here before: on the precipice of reaching a .500 record and watching it slip away because of late-inning struggles. How the Nationals would respond to the Orioles’ surge would be as important as the result.

As it has much of the season, the Nationals’ offense lifted the team.

Keibert Ruiz opened the scoring with a three-run homer in the second inning off Chris Bassitt, who allowed a lot of hard contact. In the third, CJ Abrams hit a two-out RBI double.

“Nothing,” Bassitt said when asked what positives he’d take from his performance. “I’m too old to deal with the positives. It was a bad game, bad loss.”

The Nationals’ early offense set the tone for what they would do later. The team finished 6-for-16 with runners in scoring position.

The Orioles, meanwhile, were 2-for-8.

One night prior, the Orioles nearly completed a ninth-inning comeback. They attempted to carry that momentum against Nationals starter Cade Cavalli. But, if their performance Saturday taught them anything, it’s that they have to take advantage of scoring opportunities.

Baltimore had two singles in each of the first two innings. It ended those frames with nothing. In the first inning, Orioles catcher Samuel Basallo struck out swinging on a knuckle curve. In the second, with runners on the corners and one out, Jeremiah Jackson hit a weak ground ball into an inning-ending double play.

Over the next four innings, only one of the next 11 batters reached base. The Orioles put 10 balls in play at over 100 mph against Cavalli but, as happened one night prior, they had nothing to show for it until an eventful seventh inning.

“Being in the [strike] zone, landing the curveball and sweeper, changeup played well and staying in zone with the heater, so it was all good,” said Cavalli, who allowed three runs on eight hits with eight strikeouts.

Basallo launched a first-pitch sweeper from Cavalli into the Nationals’ bullpen. Tyler O’Neill homered in the ensuing at-bat and, suddenly, the Orioles found themselves back in the game.

“They jumped on a couple pitches there. Got an out, [and reliever] PJ Poulin came in and finished the job,” Cavalli said.

The Orioles had opportunities to keep their momentum going in the inning. Coby Mayo nearly hit a game-tying homer, but the ball went just left of the foul pole. Jackson was robbed of an extra-base hit by a leaping catch from Jacob Young.

“We were putting a good rally together, had them on the ropes there for a little bit,” O’Neill said. “Just came down to a close call, man. Coby really gave that a whack. Wish that one stayed fair for us. But, if we keep grinding out at-bats, good things are going to happen.”

Even with the close calls, an RBI single by Taylor Ward left the Orioles one swing away from flipping the game. But Adley Rutschman lined out to shortstop. The Nationals were no longer on the ropes. And they came back swinging.

Washington failed to score with the bases loaded and no outs in the fifth. Fortunately for the Nationals, they had another opportunity and took advantage of it.

Manager Blake Butera stacked the top of his lineup with left-handed hitters because he liked the matchups against Bassitt, who struggles against them, allowing a slash line of .349/.441/.518 coming into the game. Butera also likes the flexibility it gives him late in games when the Orioles go to their bullpen.

The Orioles turned to left-handed reliever Keegan Akin in the seventh. Butera countered with his righties.

After a James Wood leadoff walk, Butera began pinch hitting and substituted Curtis Mead for Luis García Jr., who popped up for the first out. But his second substitution — Brady House for José Tena — paid off as House’s RBI double allowed Wood to score from first after Ward misplayed a ball against the wall and had to chase it down.

“That’s one of the cooler innings of the year,” Young said. “To be punched back in the mouth a little bit there, we get out with the lead, which is huge by the pitchers there to keep us in there. Then a huge at-bat by Brady to get that momentum going and it spiraled from there.”

And, just like that, the Nationals’ offense kicked into gear. An Abrams line-drive single put runners on the corners. Daylen Lile reached on a fielder’s choice, and House scored from third to extend the lead to 6-3. After Nasim Nuñez’s walk loaded the bases, Ruiz delivered the decisive blow with a two-run single to give the Nationals an 8-3 lead.

“It’s always frustrating,” Orioles manager Craig Albernaz said. “It’s a part of the game, especially because guys clawed back. ... [Akin] still was competing, throwing strikes, and they did a good job of putting the ball in play.”

Young and House tacked on a three-run homer and a two-run shot, respectively, as the Nationals cruised to a victory that was dicier in the middle innings than the scoreboard indicated.

“It just doesn’t feel like we’re out of games,” Butera said. “Even when they cut it to 4-3 there in the seventh, to answer with [seven runs] and get the momentum right back in our hands is just tremendous.”

This article has been updated.