Weather: 64 degrees, Partly Cloudy.
Wind: 2 mph, Out To RF.
Umpires: HP--Cederstrom, 1B--Hoye, 2B--Barksdale, 3B--Holbrook,
LF--Wolf, RF--Eddings.
Time: 4:03
Attendance: 43,867
Section 416, Row J, Seats 27-28 (back in our old section, but on the
opposite aisle and higher up – under shelter in case of rain)
It was, in a sense, a game of opposites. Washington starter Anibal
Sanchez, when last seen starting Game 1 of the NLCS two weeks ago, went 7.2
innings in that affair before giving up his one and only hit. Friday night, he
gave up a hit to the leadoff hitter, and 10 in all, without getting out of the
6th inning. The Astros, who had been struggling mightily with
runners in scoring postion, went 4 for 8 in such situations, while the Nats
were 0 for 10. Houston was sloppy in their Game 2 defeat; now, the Nats yielded
4 stolen bases (including one where an errant Suzuki throw allowed the runner
to get all the way to third), while birthday boy (and Gold Glove nominee) Juan
Soto misplayed one ball in left field and airmailed a throw on a second, giving
up an extra base each time.
For the first time in the Series, Washington’s starter kept the Astros
off the board in the first inning, although they scored in each of the next two
to put the home team in an early 2-0 hole. The strategic turning point came in
the bottom of the 4th, after a leadoff Zimmerman walk and a one-out
Robles triple. Although Tanner Rainey was warming in the bullpen, Davey allowed
the light-hitting Sanchez to bat. He struck out, and Turner hit a soft ground
ball to pitcher Zack Greinke, leaving Robles on third.
The decision was certainly defensible, given Sanchez’s low pitch count
and the shortage of reliable options in the Washington bullpen, but it did not
work out well. Sanchez recorded only 4 more outs, giving up one more run in the
5th and a homer to Robinson Chirinos in the 6th before
leaving with one out. Meanwhile, Fernando Rodney prevented any further damage
that inning, and Joe Ross combined with Wander Suero to blank the visitors over
the final three frames.
The Nats didn’t lack for baserunners, getting at least one man in
scoring position in each of the first six innings and getting Greinke out of
the game with 2 outs in the 5th. They just couldn’t get hits when
they needed them, either against Greinke or the Houston relief crew.
Things seemed much more crowded than at the two NLCS games, despite
almost identical attendance figures. You could barely move on the lower level
when we came in around 6:45, and getting out of the park after the game seemed
to take forever. Metro did a great job getting us back, but I didn’t actually
get home until 2:15.
And I was extremely happy that DC Washington got the honor of
performing the National Anthem before the game.
