Timely hitting, stout pitching lead Nationals to 3-2 win over Orioles

After whiffing on reliever Andrew Alvarez’s 85.1-mph slider in the seventh inning, Orioles star Gunnar Henderson threw his bat in frustration.

Henderson, who wears his emotion on his sleeve, knew he had wasted a prime scoring opportunity with runners on second and third.

With runners on first and second with two outs in the ninth inning, Henderson got his redemption with a single to bring the Orioles within a run against Richard Lovelady.

Lovelady walked Taylor Ward to load the bases before striking out Adley Rutschman to secure the Nationals’ 3-2 win over the Orioles on Friday night at Nationals Park.

Even with the ninth inning going awry, the Nationals showed enough in all three phrases to grab the win.

After Thursday’s 15-1 loss, starter Foster Griffin said he felt the team was close to putting it all together. Timely hitting, stout pitching and reliable defense were all key factors in Friday’s win.

Manager Blake Butera thought CJ Abrams played well at shortstop, the offense was opportunistic and starter Zack Littell was lights out, throwing five scoreless innings.

Littell’s peripheral numbers didn’t portend success against an Orioles team that reached deep into its pockets to add All-Star slugger Pete Alonso, but he induced enough weak contact consistently. His fastball velocity was up, giving him confidence to be agressive and trust his plan.

Littell has strung together three impressive outings after he allowed 14 runs over a two-game stretch in April against the Braves and Giants. Over his last four appearances, he has posted a 1.75 ERA.

Butera said Littell came off the mound and into the dugout and said that was the “best that he’s felt.” Littell said he’s gone back to the formula that has served him well in his career: throwing strikes and living with the results.

“The mindset was to go out there and attack guys,” Littell said. “Here’s my stuff, hit it. I think I’ve gotten away from that. We’ve tried to be perfect in some spots, instead of just saying, ‘Here’s my stuff over the plate.’”

From a confidence standpoint, Littell needed Friday’s performance. He entered May with a 7.85 ERA.

“More than anything, it was nice to just prove to myself that we can go out there and get guys out in big spots,” Littell said. “The staff has been awesome. Blake’s been awesome, telling me they’re going to stick with me and giving me the room to earn the trust back that we lost over those few starts.”

The offense succeeded by taking advantage of rare mistakes by Shane Baz.

In the sixth, Curtis Mead drew a leadoff walk after a six-pitch at-bat. Abrams flied out to center field. But, on an 0-1 count, Daylen Lile took Baz’s knuckle curveball low and out of the strike zone to right field for a two-run homer to extend the lead to 3-0.

“[I’m] just going out there with a clear mind,” Lile said. “I work on my swing enough in the cages to where, whenever I go into the game, it’s more just the approach side and going out there with a clear head.”

Though the Nationals have surprised many by playing close to .500 ball, the club still feels it lets games slip through the cracks because it can’t get its pitching and hitting to click at the same time.

Friday was a good first step for the Nationals in playing consistent, clean baseball. Alvarez entered in the sixth and threw three innings, allowing two runs on three hits with five strikeouts.

Even when the game turned dicey in the ninth, the bullpen held it down for the team and secured the win.

Given the schedule and the Nationals’ use of six pitchers in Wednesday’s comeback win over the Reds, using as few arms as possible over the next couple of days would be crucial to surviving this stretch.

Sustaining that level, especially the pitching, will determine how the Nationals emerge from this 16-game stretch.

“When you talk about a complete game, I thought tonight was as well of a complete games we’ve played,” Butera said.

This article has been updated.