The Nationals (97 – 68) uprising in the 9th was really pivotal and broke open a 4 – 3 game that could have gone either way. The Bottom of the Inning a sad 1 – 2 – 3.
What this means is, in addition to the Dodgers (92 – 73) facing elimination, the Nationals are guaranteed a return trip home.
Yesterday’s Game
Bottom 1st- Walk. RBI Double. Dodgers 1 – 0.
Top 3rd- Leadoff Single. RBI Double. Tied at 1. Runner advances to 3rd. RBI Single. Nationals 2 – 1. Stolen Base. Error, Runner at 3rd. 2 RBI HR. Nationals 4 – 1.
Bottom 5th- Single. 2 RBI HR. Nationals 4 – 3.
Top 9th- Solo Shot. Nationals 5 – 3. Walk. HBP. 2 RBI Double. Nationals 8 – 3 Final
Nationals 2 – 1
Hope is not lost for the Dodgers. They are returning Clayton Kershaw (L, 12 – 4, 1.69 ERA) the Game 1 winner to the mound on 3 days rest.
Now I’d feel a lot more confident if he had pitched better that game but despite the win he pretty much sucked. Only lasted 5 Innings, gave up 8 Hits and 3 Runs, had 7 Strike Outs but 1 Walk, and had a whopping Earned Run Average of 5.40 (that means for every 9 Innings pitched you can expect him to give up 5.4 Runs).
The truth is unless your pitcher’s name is Bumgarner (and we saw he was not magic last night) you don’t actually expect them to go a full 9. That’s why you have setup men and Closers, but still…
He is opposed by Joe Ross (R, 7 – 5, 3.43 ERA) who is on paper much worse and has no Playoff record to cloud the issue.
Personally I’d just as soon the Dodgers lose as I might be traveling tomorrow and in any event could use the rest.
2 comments
no live blog?
end 7th, tied at 5.
Author
I’m on the road. I have to share a TV and other things are happening that mean I can’t necessarily commit to a whole game.