Aggressive tone paying off

Photo by Mark Zuckerman / NATS INSIDER

Danny Espinosa watches his fourth-inning homer sail over the fence.

VIERA, Fla. -- It's probably not possible to establish an identity after only two spring training games, but the Nationals sure are trying their best. If there's any broad theme that can be taken out of their two Grapefruit League victories over the Mets (9-3 yesterday, 5-3 today) it is the aggressive manner in which this team has run the bases and played in the field.

Every time you look up, someone is attempting to steal a base or advance from first to third or hustling after a ball in the field.

Yes, it's only March 1, but some members of this roster are attempting to establish a particular tone right now.

"You have to set a tempo now, I believe," rookie second baseman Danny Espinosa said. "You can't just go through the motions here and expect to, when you get out there in the season, turn a switch on and expect to play at a level that you're not used to."

What is that tone these Nationals are trying to set?

"I think there's a new energy that we're trying to bring," Espinosa said. "We have a good team, and we want everyone to know that we're going to be good and people aren't going to run over us. I think we're all on the same page as far as, we're going to play hard, we're going to run balls out, we're going to play great defense, have good at-bats and pitch well. With all of us on the same page, I think we're going to have a good team identity this year."

It can be easy to listen to that kind of talk at this early stage of the spring and roll your eyes. No matter what the Nationals say now, it means little if they don't play with the same attitude come April and beyond.

"Not to downplay anything, but I can promise you every camp does that," Jim Riggleman said. "Every team in baseball is stressing it. Be aggressive. Take some chances in spring training. The key is to keep it going through the spring and the early part of the year, where it becomes the way you play the game."

Let's run through the day's highlights...

-- Both Livan Hernandez and Ross Detwiler were sharp on the mound, combining to toss five innings of one-run ball. Livo has been through enough spring trainings over the years to understand what needs to be worked on and what doesn't, and he rarely pays any attention to his March stats. Detwiler, though, knows he needs to use this opportunity to re-establish his position within the organization after a couple of up-and-down seasons. The left-hander made an important mechanical adjustment over the winter, throwing on a straighter line toward the plate instead of across his body as he did in the past. He was encouraged by the results today. "The biggest thing is to see how everything translates over to a game," Detwiler said. "The thing I'm happiest about being out there today was just not trying to feel through mechanics and not trying to make them smooth. I was just trying to go about my business."

Photo by Mark Zuckerman / NATS INSIDER

Ross Detwiler tossed two scoreless innings of relief.

-- Michael Morse continues to rake at the plate. He followed up yesterday's 3-for-5 performance with a 2-for-2 showing today, beating out an infield single in the second and then lining a base hit to left in the fourth. At the other end of the spectrum, Nyjer Morgan had another rough day at the plate, going 0-for-3 with a popped-up bunt. Morgan is now 0-for-6 in two games and has yet to hit the ball out of the infield. He did, however, make a really nice play on a sinking liner to center field in the top of the second, saving a run from scoring.

-- Cole Kimball made his spring debut and didn't disappoint. The hard-throwing right-hander faced four batters in the sixth and retired three of them. He walked David Wright but struck out Ike Davis, then looked pretty fired up trotting off the field after Derek Norris snagged a foul-pop against the backstop to end the inning.

-- Corey Brown sprained his left ankle sliding into the plate on Bryce Harper's grounder to first in the seventh inning. Brown got tangled up with catcher Raul Chavez, and though he initially got up and looked fine, he quickly crumpled to the ground in pain. Team officials were relieved, though, once it was determined Brown merely suffered a sprain and not a break or tear of any kind. His ankle was pretty swollen in the clubhouse, but he expressed confidence he'll be back within a few days. "I've done it plenty of times in the past playing sports," Brown said. "In a few days, I think it'll be alright. It's a little stiff and a little swollen, but it's just the way I play the game. I play it hard."

Photo by Mark Zuckerman / NATS INSIDER

Nyjer Morgan was 0-for-3 but made a nice catch in center field.