“Huge. It’s huge,” Matheny said after Friday’s win. “I don’t care whatever (role) he does. If we needed him to pitch the ninth again, it’s still when he has trouble – and that’s with putting guys on base. That doesn’t work well in our game, period.”

Rosenthal sped through his warmup pitches Friday, and he felt like he was still searching for his feel as he faced the top of Washington’s order. The pitches that were fouled back were partly how pesky the Nats can be at the plate, and partly because he was missing. The difference between elevating a fastball for a strikeout and having the hitter nick it to prolong the at-bat is small. Same for a pitch lower in the zone, but not enough off the plate.

After Trea Turner’s RBI single to tie the score at 1-1, Rosenthal showed the mix that he can achieve against Daniel Murphy, an MVP candidate last season. Rosenthal fell behind and then saw Murphy foul off three consecutive pitches. Rosenthal went to his changeup, and Murphy, caught ahead and under the pitch, popped up.

The inning shifted into Rosenthal’s control.

“It’s a necessity for starting, I think, to get quick outs and go deep in the game,” Rosenthal said. “That’s the goal. That’s kind of where I’m at right now, working on things to try and find a way to get that done.”