Call-Ups Dial Up Another Win

Nationals 6, Braves 4

ATLANTA, Oct. 3 -- Precisely 30 players shared the visiting clubhouse on Saturday -- all big leaguers in the most literal definition. A few of the unproven players, when the season ends in one day, might never play in the big leagues again. But a larger lot of the unproven players have used the last few weeks to show why they deserve larger roles in 2010.

It makes for an unconventional spectacle, watching a last-place team play its 161st game of the season while relying on players such as Ian Desmond (in Class AAA Syracuse until Sept. 7), Justin Maxwell (in Syracuse until Aug. 31), Ross Detwiler (in Syracuse until Sept. 7), Zack Segovia (in Syracuse until Sept. 7), Pete Orr (in Syracuse until Aug. 28) and Logan Kensing (in Syracuse until Sept. 7). The Washington Nationals, during their six-game winning streak, have become a photocopy of the Syracuse Chiefs.

More nights than not, the reliance on call-ups -- some are prospects, but not all -- has proven beneficial. In Saturday's 11-inning 6-4 victory against the Braves at Turner Field, the Nationals received five scoreless innings from Detwiler, a fourth-inning homer from Desmond and key 11th-inning production from Orr (a one-out single) and Maxwell (a two-out, opposite-field homer).

Asked if he's ever seen another team rely so heavily on its September call-ups, interim manager Jim Riggleman responded without hesitation.

"No," he said. "No."

"Well, we had a good team in Syracuse," Maxwell said. "We were right up there in first or second place the entire year. So I'm not surprised at all. I'm just happy that we all got to come up here together."

Several circumstances have conspired to give Washington its Syracuse-heavy look. The go-to starters, except Ryan Zimmerman, are either slumping or hurting. Entering Saturday's game, Riggleman debated playing Desmond yet again at short, and decided to do so because he wanted to see the kid face Atlanta's front-line starter Jair Jurrjens (eight innings, two runs) -- a tough test. Maxwell, meantime, only entered the game in the fifth, when Willie Harris exited with a strained right oblique. (Harris is simultaneously day-to-day and out for the season.)

The results?

Desmond again looked like a major league-caliber infielder, blasting another home run -- his fourth in 75 big league at-bats -- and stealing at least two base hits with his gliding range at shortstop.

And Maxwell, whose team had taken a 4-2 lead in the top of the 10th and blown it in the bottom of the 10th, promptly handed a two-run lead back to the Nationals in the 11th, swatting a 1-1 Manny Acosta fastball over the right-field fence.

"Maxy is swinging the bat as good as I've ever seen him swing the bat," said coach Tim Foli, who managed this year's Syracuse club.

Speaking about Desmond, Foli said, "He's showing you what range he has, the ability he has." Foli then smiled. "He only hit one home run for me. He's really ticking me off."

Washington can live without its ideal lineup, so long as Desmond and Maxwell keep it up. But the Nationals learned on Saturday that replacing closer Mike MacDougal, out with a sore hip, isn't as easy. Segovia, handed a 4-2 lead entering the bottom of the 10th, let up two hits on his first five pitches, and gave up a game-tying single to Greg Norton with two outs.

Detwiler, who left after five innings because of a blister on his left thumb, was more impressive. Starting for the fourth time since his September call-up, held the Braves scoreless for five innings, despite lacking pinpoint command. Desmond's defensive plays helped. So did two double plays. Leadoff runners reached in three of the first four innings against Detwiler, but he still faced the minimum in every frame but the first. He finished his rookie year with an ERA of 5.00. More important, his numbers upon returning from Syracuse reflect an improvement. In his final four starts, he compiled a 2.08 ERA, only once allowing more than one earned run.

"I think it was huge for me to come out and prove myself to everybody else that I can pitch at this level," Detwiler said. "And before when I was up here I didn't prove anything."