WASHINGTON -- “You score five runs early like that, you should win the ballgame.”\n\nNationals manager Dave Martinez spoke those words on Thursday, after his team had given up a second-inning five-run lead in a disappointing loss to the Braves. Washington had built an ample cushion, but its pitchers had erred in their execution against a hot-hitting club.\n\n“Those guys are our horses,” Martinez hadff said of his pitchers. “They’ve been throwing the ball really well. We’ll go back tomorrow, hopefully \\[we’ll get\\] the lead again in the seventh, and you’ll see those guys out there again.”\n\n• Box score\n\nFriday night's 8-7 walk-off win over the Braves in 12 innings -- won off the bat of
For three innings, the Nationals fended off one Braves threat after another.
The performances of the two relievers -- both of whom were vying for roster spots during Spring Training -- set the stage for the do-it-all Taylor to deliver late-game heroics. Tied 7-7, Taylor drove in