Weather: 71 degrees, Clear.
Wind: 3 mph, L To R.
Umpires: HP--Miller, 1B--Cuzzi, 2B--Fairchild, 3B--Culbreth,
LF--Guccione, RF--Conroy.
Time: 3:26
Attendance: 43,675
The action last night deviated quickly from the script of the previous
two games, in that one of the Cardinals actually had the temerity to get a hit
before the seventh-inning stretch. Fortunately for the Nats, Marcell Ozuna (who
has always hit Strasburg well) followed his leadoff double in the second by
getting caught between second and third on Jose Martinez’s comebacker to the
mound, extinguishing the rally before it had a chance to get going.
An inning later, again referring to the previous two games, I commented
that the Nats were about due to score their one early run. This would indeed
come true, as Robles led off with a single, went to second on the first of two
Strasburg sacrifice bunts, and scored on a two-out Eaton single after St. Louis
ace Jack Flaherty fanned Turner. Turned out that I had underestimated our team,
as Rendon then lined a double to left that Ozuna just missed catching, scoring
Eaton. Following a walk to Soto and a wild pitch, Kendrick came through again,
doubling to center to double the Washington lead.
Strasburg continued to deal for the next 3 innings, allowing a couple
of harmless singles. In fact, he seemed to be getting stronger, finishing off a
10-pitch 6th by fanning Paul Goldschmidt (who wound up going down on
strikes in each of his 4 plate appearances) and Ozuna. Meanwhile, Washington
feasted on the St. Louis bullpen after Jack was forced to hit the road, lifted
for a pinch-hitter in the top of the 5th. Doubles by Kendrick and
Zim following a Rendon single plated two more in the bottom of the frame, and
Robles led off the 6th with a homer to increase the lead to 7-0.
Things did get a little tense in the top of the 7th.
Martinez, a thorn in Washington’s side the entire series, extended Stras’s
pitch count from 90 to 100 before singling to left, and Yadier Molina got
another hit on the very next pitch. With Tanner Rainey up in the bullpen,
Strasburg fanned Tommy Edman, but Paul DeJong hit another single in Soto’s
direction, with Martinez scoring an unearned run after Juan slipped while
getting ready to throw the ball back in. During the subsequent mound visit,
Stephen made clear that he intended to finish the inning, and he did so in
style, fanning former Nat Matt Wieters and Dexter Fowler on a total of 8
pitches.
Things calmed down from there. The Nats got the run back after the
stretch on Kendrick’s third double of the game followed by Zim’s single. Fernando
Rodney and Rainey retired the final 6 St. Louis batters, leaving the Nats one
win away from the World Series. (And we are now 2-1 this postseason when eating
at Nando’s before the game.)
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