Weather: 83 degrees, Clear.
Wind: 4 mph, Out To CF.
Umpires: HP--Everitt, 1B--Danley, 2B--Nelson, 3B--Blaser, LF--Rackley,
RF--Torres.
Time: 2:55
Attendance: 42,993
Section 301, Row C, Seats 7-8
Previously, the Nats played winner-take-all playoff games at home in
2012, 2016, and 2017. They lost all three. Things were different tonight – we won’t
quibble that this win just gets them to the NLDS, which they had already
reached previously by virtue of winning the NL East.
The much-discussed decision to start Scherzer rather than Strasburg at
least initially looked misguided, as Max walked the leadoff hitter in the top
of the first, promptly served up a two-run homer to Yasmani Grandal, then gave
up a solo shot to Eric Thames an inning later. As in some of his other
post-return starts, he wasn’t consistently sharp with his location, although
his fastball started out in the 98-99 mph range, at least a few mph higher than
his typical early-inning offerings.
Trea Turner brought some life back into the park with a third-inning
shot off Milwaukee starter Brandon Woodruff, but the Nats had only two other
hits through the first 7 frames off Woodruff, Brent Suter, and Drew Pomeranz.
Although Max settled down to last 5 innings, and Strasburg kept the visitors
off the board for the next 3, the Nats faced a formidable task when the Brewers’
relief ace Josh Hader came in for the bottom of the 8th.
Although Hader was throwing as many balls as strikes, things still
seemed bleak three batters later, as he fanned Robles and Turner, with a
Michael A. Taylor hit-by-pitch in between. But Zim pinch-hit for Eaton and
blooped a broken-bat single into the outfield, and Rendon drew a walk to load
the bases.
Juan Soto then sent the crowd into a frenzy with a clean single to
right, with all three baserunners scoring as the ball got by the charging Trent
Grisham. Daniel Hudson came in to pitch a scoreless ninth, as chants of “Beat
LA!” started to fill the stands.
