I’ve been to a lot of baseball games in my life, but tonight’s contest was by far the best I’ve ever experienced.  There was an electric crowd, stellar pitching by both teams and an ending fit for Grimm.

With his team on the brink of elimination in their first playoff series, Nationals lefty Ross Detweiler methodically worked through the Cardinals lineup, allowing just three hits and one unearned run in six innings of work.  That’s Detweiler, the Nats’ fifth starter during the regular season, and the guy who never would have started tonight if Stephen Strasburg were on the roster.

After Detweiler it was time for the bullpen, which late in the year was shaky at times, but brought its absolute best when it counted.  Jordan Zimmerman, Tyler Clippard and Drew Storen pitched to 11 batters in the final three innings with the score tied 1-1.  The result?  Eight strikeouts, no hits and the loudest crowd reactions I had ever heard.

Only Jayson Werth could make us louder.  The right fielder who struggled last year after signing a mammoth contract in Washington spent all of 2012 showing why we stuck with him.  He’s a professional, he always tries and brings a presence to his team that helped define the group they have become.

His hallmark is being a patient hitter, making pitchers work to get him out.  Cardinals reliever Lance Lynn threw Werth 13 pitches to lead off the bottom of the ninth.  Werth watched as those outside the strike zone went by and relentlessly fouled off pitches that dared cross the plate.  In the stands, we stood and cheered, belting out chants of “Let’s Go Nats” and clapping until our hands hurt.

Werth deposited Lynn’s final pitch into the bullpen in left-center field, flipped his bat toward the dugout and pointed at his teammates as they streamed to home plate.  He rounded first base with his right hand in the air, red fireworks bursting above all our heads.  After rounding third, Werth flipped his helmet high in the air — a solid 30 feet — and leapt onto the plate as his teammates mobbed the scraggly looking hero of the night.

The Nats will play game five Friday night in an atmosphere I can only imagine for now, but will get to absorb when it happens.  That’s a far cry from 2005 when the team played in a makeshift stadium in front of fans — including myself — who were happy to see any baseball, even though our team was never a threat to anyone.

And no matter what happens tomorrow, I’ll always have the magical intensity of tonight.  That’s #Natitude.

[I encourage you to head to the Washington Post to check out these great pictures of Werth’s home run trot.]