St. Louis Cardinals vs. Washington Nationals
Game 1: Lance Lynn vs. Jordan Zimmerman, Nationals Park
NATS BLOW LEAD LATE, RALLY EVEN LATER TO WIN WILD NLDS GAME 1
Werth Reaches Base Safely in All 6 PAs
WASHINGTON, Oct. 3 (AP) – The Washington Nationals blew a 5-2 lead in a devastating top of the eighth inning, only to rally to tie the game in the bottom of the ninth and win it in the 10th, defeating the St. Louis Cardinals 8-7 in Game 1 of the NLDS at Nationals Park. One of the wildest postseason games in recent memory featured a five-run Cardinals eighth inning, 11 walks issued by St. Louis pitching, a perfect day (six times reaching base in six plate appearances) for probable National League MVP frontrunner Jayson Werth, 15 different pitchers used by the two clubs, and a walk-off hit to wrap up the madcap contest.
The game started innocently enough. The Nationals drew first blood in the bottom of the first, when Anthony Rendon doubled with one out and scored on Werth’s base hit, giving Washington a 1-0 advantage. The Cardinals tied the game in the top of the second when Matt Adams led off with a double, advanced to third on Jhonny Peralta’s base hit, and scored when Yadier Molina grounded into a double play.
The Nationals then seized control of the game in the third, driving St. Louis starter Lance Lynn from the mound in the process. Rendon and Werth walked to open the frame and Adam LaRoche followed with a base hit to left-center, scoring Rendon and chasing Werth to third. Ian Desmond then roped a double to right-center, plating Werth and advancing Desmond to third. That was it for Lynn, who left having allowed six hits and two walks in two-plus innings. He was replaced by Marco Gonzales, who, with the infield in, retired Bryce Harper on a grounder to third, with the runners holding. Wilson Ramos was walked intentionally, but Asdrubel Cabrera lifted a sacrifice fly to center, scoring LaRoche to make it 4-1. Nats pitcher Jordan Zimmerman then struck out to end the inning.
It remained 4-1 into the fifth, when the Cardinals threatened. Randal Grichuk led off with a base hit to left and Kolten Wong’s single put runners on first and second. Daniel Delcalso then hit for Gonzales and laced a double into the right field corner, scoring Grichuk to make it 4-2 and leaving runners on second and third with none out. Washington manager Matt Williams wasted no time lifting Zimmerman and inserting Jerry Blevins into the game, and Blevins made the move look brilliant. He fanned Matt Carpenter and Jon Jay, pitched around Matt Holliday and walked him, filling the bases, then retired Adams on a routine fly to right to escape further damage.
The Nationals got that run back in the bottom of the sixth when Denard Span drew a lead-off walk from Carlos Martinez, and stole second. Rendon struck out, but while pitching to Werth, Martinez was called for a balk, advancing Span to third. Werth then lined a base hit to center, scoring Span to make it 5-2.
Craig Stammen and Matt Thornton held the Cardinals at bay through the seventh and Tyler Clippard was brought on to pitch the eighth for Washington. Things started off just fine. Clippard fanned Holliday and retired Adams on a grounder to first. But Peralta singled to left and Clippard then walked Molina, putting runners on first and second. An infield hit off the bat of Grichuk filled the bases and Williams, sensing a full meltdown on the part of Clippard, summoned closer Rafael Soriano in from the bullpen, as part of a double switch bringing Danny Espinosa into the game to play second base. It didn’t go well. Wong ripped the first pitch he saw from Soriano into the right field corner for a double, scoring Peralta and Molina, with Grichuk holding at third. The Washington lead was now just a single run. The Cardinals sent A.J. Pierzynski up to pinch hit and, on his first pitch from Soriano, Pierzynski lined a single to right center, scoring both runners and giving the Cardinals their first lead of the game, 6-5. The partisan crowd was stunned. But St. Louis wasn’t done. Soriano walked Carpenter on four pitches and then uncorked a wild pitch, advancing the runners to second and third. Then he walked Jay to fill the bases and Williams emerged again from the dugout, this time to a chorus of boos, to lift Soriano in favor of Drew Storen. Storen proceeded to walk Holliday—the fourth free pass of the inning issued by Nationals pitchers—to force in the fifth run of the frame. Adams finally ended the carnage by flying out. Five runs had scored and the Cardinals now led, 7-5.
Pat Neshek cruised through a 1-2-3 bottom of the eighth for St. Louis and Storen did likewise for Washington in the top of the ninth.
Trevor Rosenthal came on for St. Louis in the bottom of the ninth to close out the game. Peter Bourjos was inserted in center field, as a defensive replacement, with Jay shifting to right. Rosenthal’s outing got off to an ominous start as he walked Werth leading off the inning, the sixth straight time the Nats left fielder had reached base safely in the game. LaRoche flied to center for the first out, but Desmond cracked his second two-bagger of the game, putting the tying runs on second and third. Harper then drew a free pass, loading the bases and Rosenthal then walked Ramos on five pitches, forcing Werth home to make it 7-6. Ryan Zimmerman then came to the plate as a pinch hitter and laced a 1-0 fastball into center field for a base hit, scoring Desmond, but Bourjos gunned Harper down at the plate, keeping the winning run from scoring, and leaving men on first and third with two outs. Espinosa flied to right, sending the game to extra innings.
Aaron Barrett, the eighth Washington pitcher of the day, entered in the top of the tenth and yielded a one-out single to Bourjos, but Ramos cut the baserunner down trying to steal second and Carpenter flied to right to end the inning.
Sam Freeman was inserted for the Cardinals in the bottom of the inning and Span greeted him with a double to left. With Werth in the hole, the Cardinals had to pitch to Rendon and the Nationals third baseman came through with a base hit to center. Span, one of the fastest runners in the major leagues, scored easily and the Nationals had eked out a wild game one victory.
10/3/2014, StL14-Was14, Nationals Park
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 R H E LOB DP
2014 Cardinals 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 5 0 0 7 13 1 9 2
2014 Nationals 1 0 3 0 0 1 0 0 2 1 8 12 0 12 2
Cardinals AB R H BI AVG Nationals AB R H BI AVG
Carpenter,M 3b 5 0 0 0 .000 Span cf 4 2 1 0 .250
Jay cf 4 0 1 0 .250 Rendon 3b 5 2 2 1 .400
Holliday lf 3 0 0 1 .000 Werth rf 2 2 2 1 1.000
Adams,Ma 1b 5 1 1 0 .200 LaRoche 1b 5 1 2 1 .400
Peralta,Jh ss 5 1 2 0 .400 Desmond ss 5 1 3 1 .600
Molina,Y c 4 1 0 0 .000 Harper lf 4 0 0 0 .000
Grichuk rf 5 2 3 0 .600 Ramos,W c 1 0 0 1 .000
Rosenthal p 0 0 0 0 .000 Cabrera,A 2b 3 0 1 1 .333
Freeman,S p 0 0 0 0 .000 Soriano,R p 0 0 0 0 .000
Wong 2b 4 1 2 2 .500 Storen p 0 0 0 0 .000
Lynn p 1 0 0 0 .000 Zimmerman,R ph 1 0 1 1 1.000
Gonzales p 0 0 0 0 .000 Barrett p 0 0 0 0 .000
Descalso ph 1 0 1 1 1.000 Zimmermann,J p 1 0 0 0 .000
Martinez,C p 0 0 0 0 .000 Blevins p 0 0 0 0 .000
Lyons p 0 0 0 0 .000 Schierholtz ph 1 0 0 0 .000
Taveras ph 1 0 1 0 1.000 Stammen p 0 0 0 0 .000
Maness p 0 0 0 0 .000 Thornton p 0 0 0 0 .000
Pierzynski ph 1 1 1 2 1.000 Clippard p 0 0 0 0 .000
Neshek p 0 0 0 0 .000 Espinosa 2b 2 0 0 0 .000
Bourjos cf 1 0 1 0 1.000 34 8 12 7
40 7 13 6
Cardinals INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA
Lynn 2.0 6 4 4 2 0 47 24 18.00
Gonzales 2.0 0 0 0 3 1 35 17 0.00
Martinez,C 1.1 2 1 1 2 4 40 21 6.75
Lyons 0.2 0 0 0 0 0 4 2 0.00
Maness 1.0 0 0 0 1 1 16 9 0.00
Neshek H 1 1.0 0 0 0 0 1 10 9 0.00
Rosenthal BS 1 1.0 2 2 2 3 0 24 9 18.00
Freeman,S L 0-1 0.0 2 1 1 0 0 5 4 99.00
9.0 12 8 8 11 7 181 95
Nationals INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA
Zimmermann,J 4.0 7 2 2 0 3 56 41 4.50
Blevins 1.0 0 0 0 1 2 16 9 0.00
Stammen H 1 1.1 1 0 0 0 2 18 14 0.00
Thornton H 1 0.2 0 0 0 0 1 10 6 0.00
Clippard H 1 0.2 2 3 3 1 1 14 8 40.50
Soriano,R BS 1 0.0 2 2 2 2 0 13 5 99.00
Storen 1.1 0 0 0 1 1 17 11 0.00
Barrett W 1-0 1.0 1 0 0 0 1 14 8 0.00
10.0 13 7 7 5 11 158 102
StL: Descalso batted for Gonzales in the 5th
Taveras batted for Lyons in the 7th
Pierzynski batted for Maness in the 8th
Jay moved to rf in the 9th
Bourjos inserted at cf in the 9th
Was: Schierholtz batted for Blevins in the 5th
Espinosa inserted at 2b in the 8th
Zimmerman,R batted for Storen in the 9th
E-Grichuk. 2B-Adams,Ma(1), Wong(1), Descalso(1), Span(1), Rendon(1),
Desmond 2(2). RBI-Holliday(1), Wong 2(2), Descalso(1), Pierzynski 2(2),
Rendon(1), Werth(1), LaRoche(1), Desmond(1), Ramos,W(1), Cabrera,A(1),
Zimmerman,R(1). SB-Span(1). CS-Bourjos. K-Carpenter,M 2, Jay 2, Holliday 2,
Peralta,Jh, Grichuk 2, Wong, Lynn, Span, Rendon, Desmond, Harper, Cabrera,A,
Zimmermann,J, Schierholtz. BB-Carpenter,M, Jay, Holliday 2, Molina,Y, Span 2,
Rendon, Werth 3, Harper, Ramos,W 4. SH-Zimmermann,J. SF-Cabrera,A. HBP-Wong.
HB-Zimmermann,J. WP-Soriano,R. BALK-Martinez,C.
GWRBI: Rendon
Temperature: 60, Sky: clear, Wind: out to left at 8 MPH.
Attendance: 41,495
Game Time: 3:46
Game 2: Shelby Miller vs. Stephen Strasburg, Nationals Park
CARDS USE LONGBALL TO EVEN SERIES
Redbirds Pen Shuts Down Nats’ Bats
WASHINGTON, Oct. 4 (AP) – The St. Louis Cardinals used home runs off the bats of Jhonny Peralta and Matt Carpenter to even their Divisional Series with Washington, defeating the Nationals 6-3 at Nationals Park. The Cardinals shook off the disappointment of blowing a ninth inning lead in Game 1, and the club’s bullpen was at the forefront of the effort, holding Washington scoreless over the final four innings of the contest.
After three scoreless frames, St. Louis got to Nationals starter Stephen Strasburg in the top of the fourth. Matt Carpenter led off with a base hit and Jon Jay drew a four-pitch walk. Strasburg retired Matt Holliday on strikes and Matt Adams on a line drive to right, but Peralta cracked a 1-0 offering into the seats down the left field line for a three-run homer and a 3-0 Cardinals lead.
The Nationals got a run back in the bottom of the inning off St. Louis starter Shelby Miller, but it could have been more. Jayson Werth led off with a single and Adam LaRoche walked, putting runners on first and second. Miller induced Ian Desmond to roll into a double play, leaving Werth on third with two outs. Bryce Harper kept the inning from being a total loss when he lined a base hit to left-center, scoring Werth to make the score 3-1, but Wilson Ramos lined to center to end the inning.
In the fifth, the Cardinals added to their lead when Randal Grichuk led off with a base hit and, after Strasburg retired Kolten Wong and Miller, Carpenter drilled a fastball over the center field wall to put St. Louis on top 5-1.
The Nationals were hampered by the fact that they used their entire bullpen in Game 1, so they stuck with Strasburg longer than they otherwise might have done.
In the bottom of the fifth, Denard Span singled with two outs and Anthony Rendon picked out a first pitch-fastball from Miller and roped it into the bleachers in left-center. The two-run homer pulled Washington back to within 5-3. But it was as close as the Nationals would get.
Randy Choate came on for the Cardinals in the bottom of the sixth, retired LaRoche on a fly to center, but then yielded a double to Desmond. After setting down Harper on an infield pop, Choate was replaced by Seth Maness, who ended the inning by inducing Ramos to ground to third.
St. Louis picked up an insurance run in the top of the seventh off Matt Thornton. Wong reached on an infield single and stole second. Peter Bourjos, brought into the game as part of a double-switch when Manees entered, sacrificed Wong to third, and Matt Carpenter lifted a sacrifice fly to center, scoring Wong to make it 6-3.
Maness retired the Nationals in order in the bottom of the seventh and Pat Neshek pitched around a leadoff walk to Rendon, fanning Werth, getting LaRoche on a fly ball and striking out Desmond.
Trevor Rosenthal entered the game in a save situation in the ninth, with the memory of the blown save the previous day fresh in his mind. But he retired Harper and pinch hitter Danny Espinosa on ground balls before issuing a four-pitch walk to Asdrubel Cabrera. Unfazed, he retired Jose Lobaton on the third ground out of the inning to preserve the victory.
10/4/2014, StL14-Was14, Nationals Park
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E LOB DP
2014 Cardinals 0 0 0 3 2 0 1 0 0 6 7 0 4 1
2014 Nationals 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 0 0 3 7 0 6 0
Cardinals AB R H BI AVG Nationals AB R H BI AVG
Carpenter,M 3b 4 2 2 3 .222 Span cf 4 1 2 0 .375
Jay cf 3 1 0 0 .143 Rendon 3b 3 1 2 2 .500
Holliday lf 4 0 0 0 .000 Werth rf 4 1 1 0 .500
Adams,Ma 1b 3 0 0 0 .125 LaRoche 1b 3 0 0 0 .250
Neshek p 0 0 0 0 .000 Desmond ss 4 0 1 0 .444
Rosenthal p 0 0 0 0 .000 Harper lf 4 0 1 1 .125
Peralta,Jh ss 3 1 1 3 .375 Ramos,W c 3 0 0 0 .000
Molina,Y c 4 0 0 0 .000 Storen p 0 0 0 0 .000
Grichuk rf 3 1 1 0 .500 Blevins p 0 0 0 0 .000
Maness p 0 0 0 0 .000 Espinosa ph 1 0 0 0 .000
Descalso 1b 1 0 0 0 .500 Cabrera,A 2b 3 0 0 0 .167
Wong 2b 4 1 2 0 .500 Strasburg p 2 0 0 0 .000
Miller,S p 2 0 0 0 .000 Barrett p 0 0 0 0 .000
Choate p 0 0 0 0 .000 Thornton p 0 0 0 0 .000
Bourjos cf 2 0 1 0 .667 Lobaton c 2 0 0 0 .000
33 6 7 6 33 3 7 3
Cardinals INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA
Miller,S W 1-0 5.0 6 3 3 1 2 80 52 5.40
Choate H 1 0.2 1 0 0 0 0 11 9 0.00
Maness H 1 1.1 0 0 0 0 1 15 9 0.00
Neshek H 2 1.0 0 0 0 1 2 16 10 0.00
Rosenthal S 1 1.0 0 0 0 1 0 14 6 9.00
9.0 7 3 3 3 5 136 86
Nationals INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA
Strasburg L 0-1 5.1 4 5 5 3 7 94 56 8.44
Barrett 0.2 0 0 0 0 2 10 6 0.00
Thornton 0.2 2 1 1 0 0 11 6 6.75
Storen 1.1 0 0 0 0 3 21 14 0.00
Blevins 1.0 1 0 0 0 1 19 13 0.00
9.0 7 6 6 3 13 155 95
StL: Jay moved to rf in the 6th
Bourjos inserted at cf in the 6th
Descalso inserted at 1b in the 8th
Was: Lobaton inserted at c in the 7th
Espinosa batted for Blevins in the 9th
2B-Rendon(2), Desmond(3). HR-Carpenter,M(1), Peralta,Jh(1), Rendon(1).
RBI-Carpenter,M 3(3), Peralta,Jh 3(3), Rendon 2(3), Harper(1). SB-Wong(1),
Bourjos(1). K-Jay, Holliday 3, Adams,Ma 2, Peralta,Jh, Molina,Y 2, Grichuk 2,
Miller,S, Descalso, Werth 3, Desmond, Lobaton. BB-Jay, Adams,Ma, Peralta,Jh,
Rendon, LaRoche, Cabrera,A. SF-Carpenter,M.
GWRBI: Peralta,Jh
Matt Adams was ejected from this game
Temperature: 66, Sky: cloudy, Wind: right to left at 8 MPH.
Attendance: 41,240
Game Time: 3:02
Game 3: Tanner Roark vs. Adam Wainwright, Busch Stadium
CARDS RIDE WAINWRIGHT’S CG TO EASY GAME 3 WIN
2 More HRs Pace Redbirds Attack
ST. LOUIS, Oct. 6 (AP) – Adam Wainwright tossed a complete game three-hitter, leading the St. Louis Cardinals to a 7-1 victory over the Washington Nationals in Game 3 of the NLDS at Busch Stadium. Matt Adams and Jhonny Peralta belted a home run apiece to lead the St. Louis offense. The Nationals, who finished the regular season with the best record in all of baseball this year, now face the prospect of being eliminated in the first round of the playoffs, as the Cardinals lead the best-of-five series two games to one.
The Cardinals jumped out to a lead they would never surrender in the very first inning when Matt Carpenter led off the bottom of the first with a base hit off Washington starter Tanner Roark and, two batters later, Adams homered to right, giving St. Louis a 2-0 advantage.
Roark settled in and held the Cardinals to no runs and just two more hits through five, but things suddenly fell apart in the sixth. After retiring Jon Jay and Matt Holliday on consecutive ground balls to short to open the inning, Adams rolled a single into left field and Peralta then crushed a two-run home run into the left-center field bleachers to make it 4-0.
In the bottom of the seventh, with Tyler Clippard on the hill for the Nationals, Randal Grichuk reached on an infield single. Kolten Wong fanned and Wainwright sacrificed Grichuk to second. Matt Thornton came on to face Carpenter, but the Cardinals third baseman doubled down the left field line, scoring Grichuk to put St. Louis ahead 5-0.
In the eighth, the Cardinals put the game away against Rafael Sorinao. Adams singled with one out—his third hit of the game—and Peralta doubled him to third. Soriano then unleashed a wild pitch, scoring Adams and sending Peralta to third. Yadier Molina followed with a base hit to center, plating Peralta and making the score 7-0.
Wainwright was in full control throughout for the Cardinals, though his control wavered on occasion. He walked three batters in the first four innings, but no one ever advanced past first base. He took a one-hit—he surrendered a second inning single to Roark, of all people—shutout into the ninth inning, but Anthony Rendon homered leading off. Jayson Werth flied to left and Adam LaRoche singled. But Ian Desmond grounded out and Bryce Harper flied to right to end the game.
The complete game by Wainwright is the first of the postseason thus far.
10/6/2014, Was14-StL14, Busch Stadium
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E LOB DP
2014 Nationals 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 3 1 5 1
2014 Cardinals 2 0 0 0 0 2 1 2 x 7 11 0 3 1
Nationals AB R H BI AVG Cardinals AB R H BI AVG
Span cf 4 0 0 0 .250 Carpenter,M 3b 4 1 3 1 .385
Rendon 3b 4 1 1 1 .417 Jay cf 4 0 0 0 .091
Werth rf 3 0 0 0 .333 Holliday lf 4 0 0 0 .000
LaRoche 1b 3 0 1 0 .273 Bourjos cf 0 0 0 0 .667
Desmond ss 4 0 0 0 .308 Adams,Ma 1b 4 3 3 2 .333
Harper lf 2 0 0 0 .100 Peralta,Jh ss 4 2 3 2 .500
Ramos,W c 3 0 0 0 .000 Molina,Y c 4 0 1 1 .083
Cabrera,A 2b 3 0 0 0 .111 Grichuk rf 4 1 1 0 .417
Roark p 2 0 1 0 .500 Wong 2b 3 0 0 0 .364
Clippard p 0 0 0 0 .000 Wainwright p 2 0 0 0 .000
Thornton p 0 0 0 0 .000 33 7 11 6
Schierholtz ph 1 0 0 0 .000
Soriano,R p 0 0 0 0 .000
Stammen p 0 0 0 0 .000
29 1 3 1
Nationals INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA
Roark L 0-1 6.0 6 4 4 0 2 71 54 6.00
Clippard 0.2 1 1 1 0 1 8 6 27.00
Thornton 0.1 1 0 0 0 0 7 4 5.40
Soriano,R 0.1 3 2 2 0 0 14 8 99.99
Stammen 0.2 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 0.00
8.0 11 7 7 0 3 102 74
Cardinals INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA
Wainwright W 1-0 9.0 3 1 1 4 6 113 68 1.00
9.0 3 1 1 4 6 113 68
Was: Schierholtz batted for Thornton in the 8th
StL: Jay moved to lf in the 9th
Bourjos inserted at cf in the 9th
E-Harper. 2B-Carpenter,M(1), Peralta,Jh(1). HR-Rendon(2), Adams,Ma(1),
Peralta,Jh(2). RBI-Rendon(4), Carpenter,M(4), Adams,Ma 2(2), Peralta,Jh 2(5),
Molina,Y(1). K-Rendon, LaRoche, Desmond 2, Harper, Cabrera,A, Molina,Y, Wong,
Wainwright. BB-Werth, LaRoche, Harper 2. SH-Wainwright. WP-Soriano,R.
GWRBI: Adams,Ma
Temperature: 56, Sky: partly cloudy, Wind: right to left at 22 MPH.
Attendance: 44,016
Game Time: 2:17
Game 4: Gio Gonzalez vs. John Lackey, Busch Stadium
NATS RIDE 19-HIT ATTACK, FORCE GAME 5
Rendon Raps Out 5 Hits, 3rd HR of NLDS
ST. LOUIS, Oct. 7 (AP) – The Washington Nationals pounded out 10 runs on 19 hits and forced a deciding Game 5 of their series with the St. Louis Cardinals with a 10-6 win at Busch Stadium. Anthony Rendon continued his torrid hitting, going 4-for-5, including a home run—his third in four games—and driving in five runs. Five other Nationals also managed multi-hit games. But the Nationals have been hampered by an absence of the long ball. Rendon is the only Washington batter to hit a home run thus far in the series.
A high-scoring tone was set immediately in Game 4. Denard Span led off by drawing a walk from Cardinals starter John Lackey, and promptly stole second. Rendon followed with a single to left, scoring Span to give the Nationals a 1-0 lead. Jayson Werth followed with another base hit to left, putting runners on first and second, and Adam LaRoche laced a single to right-center, scoring Rendon and advancing Werth to third. Ian Desmond fanned for the first out, but Bryce Harper lashed Washington’s fourth hit of the frame, a single to left, scoring Werth and advancing LaRoche to second. Wilson Ramos then grounded into a double play to end the inning, but the Nationals now led 3-0.
St. Louis wasted no time narrowing the margin. Matt Carpenter led off the bottom of the inning by lining a double to right-center and, after Randal Grichuk fanned, Matt Holliday crushed a Gio Gonzalez change-up off the Big Mac sign—the facacde of the third level—in left field for a monstrous home run, cutting the Washington lead to 3-2.
Undaunted, the Nationals reclaimed their three-run advantage in the second, driving Lackey from the game in the process. Span doubled to right-center with two outs and Rendon roped a 2-2 pitch into the left field bleachers to make the score 5-2. When Werth followed Rendon’s homer with a double off the wall in left-center, Cardinals manager Mike Matheny had seen enough, replacing Lackey with Tyler Lyons, who fanned LaRoche to end the inning.
Again, the Cardinals cut into the lead. In the bottom of the second, Jon Jay drew a leadoff walk from Gonzalez, advanced to second and third on successive groundouts, and then scored on Carpenter’s base hit to right.
After a quiet pair of innings, Washington blew the game open in the fifth against Carlos Martinez. With one out, Desmond singled to right and advanced to second on Harper’s base hit. Ramos flied to left for the second out, but Asdrubel Cabrera doubled to right-center, scoring Desmond to make it 6-3, with Harper advancing to third. Gonzalez then dropped a base hit into right field, scoring both runners. With the score now 8-3, Martinez’s day was done. Sam Freeman replaced him, but the hit parade continued. Span doubled Harper to third and Rendon singled to left, scoring two more runs, giving the Nationals a 10-3 advantage. Werth finally popped out to end the inning.
The game was a seeming blowout, but the Cardinals didn’t quit. They got a run back in the bottom of the fifth when pinch hitter Peter Kozma led off with a double and scored two batters later on Matt Holliday’s base hit. In the sixth, they made it 10-5 and threatened to make it closer. Matt Adams led off with a triple against Doug Pfister and scored on a Yedier Molina groundout. After Jay flied out, Kolten Wong reached on an infield single and pitch hitter Daniel Delcalso singled Wong to second. But Pfister retired Carpenter on a fly to right to end the inning.
Still chipping away, St. Louis made it 10-6 in the seventh. Grichuk tripled over the head of Span to open the frame and scored on Holliday’s groundout. After Jhonny Peralta was retired, Adams and Molina slapped back-to-back singles, only to be left stranded when Jay grounded out to end the inning.
The Cardinals threatened again in the eighth, with Tyler Clippard on the mound. With one out, Oscar Taveras reached on LaRoche’s error and Carpenter drew a walk to put runners on first and second. But Clippard fanned Grichuk and retired Holliday on a line drive to left.
Seemingly exhausted, St. Louis succumbed easily to Craig Stammen in the bottom of the ninth, as he retired the side in order.
The series will now return to Nationals Park in Washington for a winter-take-all Game 5.
10/7/2014, Was14-StL14, Busch Stadium
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E LOB DP
2014 Nationals 3 2 0 0 5 0 0 0 0 10 19 1 9 0
2014 Cardinals 2 1 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 6 12 0 9 1
Nationals AB R H BI AVG Cardinals AB R H BI AVG
Span cf 5 3 3 0 .353 Carpenter,M 3b 4 1 2 1 .412
Rendon 3b 5 2 4 5 .529 Grichuk rf 5 1 1 0 .353
Werth rf 5 1 3 0 .429 Holliday lf 5 1 2 4 .125
LaRoche 1b 5 0 1 1 .250 Peralta,Jh ss 5 0 0 0 .353
Desmond ss 5 1 2 0 .333 Adams,Ma 1b 5 1 3 0 .412
Harper lf 4 1 2 1 .214 Molina,Y c 5 0 1 1 .118
Fister p 0 0 0 0 .000 Jay cf 3 1 0 0 .071
Blevins p 0 0 0 0 .000 Wong 2b 4 0 1 0 .333
Schierholtz ph 1 0 0 0 .000 Lackey p 0 0 0 0 .000
Clippard p 0 0 0 0 .000 Lyons p 1 0 0 0 .000
Stammen p 0 0 0 0 .000 Martinez,C p 0 0 0 0 .000
Ramos,W c 5 0 0 0 .000 Freeman,S p 0 0 0 0 .000
Cabrera,A 2b 5 1 1 1 .143 Kozma ph 1 1 1 0 1.000
Gonzalez,G p 3 1 1 2 .333 Gonzales p 0 0 0 0 .000
Frandsen lf 2 0 2 0 1.000 Descalso ph 1 0 1 0 .667
45 10 19 10 Maness p 0 0 0 0 .000
Neshek p 0 0 0 0 .000
Taveras ph 1 0 0 0 .500
Choate p 0 0 0 0 .000
40 6 12 6
Nationals INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA
Gonzalez,G W 1-0 5.0 6 4 4 1 5 76 47 7.20
Fister H 1 1.2 6 2 2 0 0 27 18 10.80
Blevins H 1 0.1 0 0 0 0 0 4 2 0.00
Clippard 1.0 0 0 0 1 1 21 14 15.43
Stammen 1.0 0 0 0 0 1 13 11 0.00
9.0 12 6 6 2 7 141 92
Cardinals INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA
Lackey L 0-1 1.2 7 5 5 1 2 43 31 27.00
Lyons 2.0 1 0 0 0 3 31 19 0.00
Martinez,C 1.0 5 4 4 0 2 33 22 19.29
Freeman,S 0.1 2 1 1 0 0 11 7 54.00
Gonzales 1.0 0 0 0 0 3 22 14 0.00
Maness 1.0 1 0 0 0 0 15 12 0.00
Neshek 1.0 2 0 0 0 1 10 9 0.00
Choate 1.0 1 0 0 0 0 18 12 0.00
9.0 19 10 10 1 11 183 126
Was: Frandsen inserted at lf in the 6th
Schierholtz batted for Blevins in the 8th
StL: Kozma batted for Freeman,S in the 5th
Descalso batted for Gonzales in the 6th
Taveras batted for Neshek in the 8th
E-LaRoche. 2B-Span 2(3), Werth(1), Cabrera,A(1), Carpenter,M(2), Kozma(1).
3B-Grichuk(1), Adams,Ma(1). HR-Rendon(3), Holliday(1). RBI-Rendon 5(9),
LaRoche(2), Harper(2), Cabrera,A(2), Gonzalez,G 2(2), Carpenter,M(5),
Holliday 4(5), Molina,Y(2). SB-Span(2). K-Werth, LaRoche 4, Desmond 2,
Harper 2, Cabrera,A, Gonzalez,G, Grichuk 2, Holliday, Peralta,Jh, Adams,Ma 2,
Jay. BB-Span, Carpenter,M, Jay.
GWRBI: Rendon
Temperature: 61, Sky: clear, Wind: out to left at 7 MPH.
Attendance: 44,107
Game Time: 3:19
Game 5: Lance Lynn vs. Jordan Zimmerman, Nationals Park
NATS SCORE EARLY, OFTEN, CRUISE PAST CARDS AND INTO NLCS
Redbirds Staff Implodes, Walks 9 in Game 5 Defeat
WASHINGTON, Oct. 9 (AP) – They took awhile to get going, but the top-scoring team in the National League during the regular season woke up in the nick of time. The Washington Nationals banged out 11 hits and drew nine walks, easily defeating the St. Louis Cardinals in Game 5 of the NLDS 8-2 at Nationals Park. Washington advances to the National League Championship Series and will host the Los Angeles Dodgers for Games 1 and 2.
The Nationals jumped on St. Louis starter Lance Lynn early. Denard Span led off the bottom of the first with a base hit and, after Anthony Rendon struck out, Jayson Werth drew the first of nine free passes from Cardinals pitchers, putting runners on first and second. Adam LaRoche’s roller to third advanced the runners to second and third, and Ian Desmond came through with a base hit to center, scoring both runners to give the Nationals a 2-0 lead.
The Cardinals sliced the advantage to one in the top of the fourth. Matt Adams singled with one out off Washington starter Jordan Zimmerman, and Jhonny Peralta’s single to right put runners on the corners. Yadier Molina then followed with a base hit of his own to right, scoring Adams and advancing Peralta to third. St. Louis seemed poised to at least tie the game, but Randal Grichuk’s fly to left was much too shallow to do any damage and Zimmerman fanned Kolten Wong to end the inning.
The Nationals then took firm command of the game in the bottom of the inning. Wilson Ramos led off with a single and after Asdrubel Cabrera flied to center, Zimmerman’s sacrifice attempt resulted in a fielder’s choice, with Ramos forced at second. Just when it seemed as though the Nationals rally had fizzled, it came alive, courtesy of control problems for Lynn. The right-hander walked Span and Rendon to load the bases. Cardinals manager Mike Matheny lifted his starter and inserted Carlos Martinez, but it was a catastrophe. Martinez couldn’t find the plate. He walked Werth, forcing in the third Washington run of the game, then issued a free pass to LaRoche, forcing in another run. After he walked Desmond, making it 5-1 when Rendon crossed the plate, the Nationals had drawn five consecutive bases on balls. It was only the third time all year, regular season or postseason, that a team had drawn five straight walks. Matheny replaced Martinez with Randy Choate and the lefty struck out Bryce Harper to end the inning, but the damage had been done.
If there was any question about the outcome of the game, the Nationals answered it when they erupted for three more runs in the bottom of the sixth. Span led off with a double and an infield single off the bat of Rendon put runners on first and third. With the infield in, Werth bounced to second, but Wong’s throw to the plate was too late to nab Span, who scored the team’s sixth run on the fielder’s choice, which left men on first and second. LaRoche dropped a single into center, scoring Rendon. Desmond fanned for the first out, but Harper walked, filling the bases. Ramos’ soft grounder to first scored Werth, to make it 8-1.
Zimmerman pitched through the fifth, allowing just the single run to the Cardinals, and Matt Thornton and Craig Stammen combined to keep St. Louis off the board in the sixth. Aaron Barrett retired the side in order in the top of the seventh.
The Cardinals finally pushed another run across the plate, against Drew Storen in the eighth. Matt Carpenter, who had a tremendous series and went 4-for-4 in Game 5, lined a leadoff double, and one out later, Matt Holliday singled to right, scoring Carpetner to make it 8-2. But Matt Adams struck out and, after Peralta drew a free pass, Storen fanned Molina to end the inning.
Closer Rafael Soriano, who had been blasted in his last appearance, was given a chance to boost his confidence in the ninth and he did so, retiring Grichuk, Wong and Daniel Delcalso in order to end the game.
The Washington quartet of Denard Span, Anthony Rendon, Jayson Werth and Ian Desmond, who had wreaked havoc on NL staff throughout the regular season, reprised their roles against the Cardinals in the NLDS. The four combined to go 35-for-81 (.432) with nine doubles and 14 bases on balls. The group combined to score 25 runs.
10/9/2014, StL14-Was14, Nationals Park
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E LOB DP
2014 Cardinals 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 2 11 1 7 1
2014 Nationals 2 0 0 3 0 3 0 0 x 8 11 0 13 2
Cardinals AB R H BI AVG Nationals AB R H BI AVG
Carpenter,M 3b 4 1 4 0 .524 Span cf 4 3 3 0 .429
Jay cf 4 0 0 0 .056 Rendon 3b 4 2 1 0 .476
Holliday lf 4 0 2 1 .200 Werth rf 3 2 2 2 .471
Adams,Ma 1b 4 1 1 0 .381 LaRoche 1b 3 0 1 2 .263
Peralta,Jh ss 3 0 2 0 .400 Desmond ss 4 0 2 3 .364
Molina,Y c 4 0 2 1 .190 Harper lf 4 0 0 0 .167
Grichuk rf 4 0 0 0 .286 Ramos,W c 5 0 2 1 .118
Wong 2b 4 0 0 0 .263 Cabrera,A 2b 4 0 0 0 .111
Lynn p 1 0 0 0 .000 Zimmermann,J p 2 1 0 0 .000
Martinez,C p 0 0 0 0 .000 Schierholtz ph 1 0 0 0 .000
Choate p 0 0 0 0 .000 Thornton p 0 0 0 0 .000
Taveras ph 1 0 0 0 .333 Stammen p 0 0 0 0 .000
Maness p 0 0 0 0 .000 Barrett p 0 0 0 0 .000
Freeman,S p 0 0 0 0 .000 Zimmerman,R ph 1 0 0 0 .500
Neshek p 0 0 0 0 .000 Storen p 0 0 0 0 .000
Pierzynski ph 1 0 0 0 .500 Espinosa ph 1 0 0 0 .000
Miller,S p 0 0 0 0 .000 Soriano,R p 0 0 0 0 .000
Descalso ph 1 0 0 0 .500 36 8 11 8
35 2 11 2
Cardinals INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA
Lynn L 0-1 3.2 5 5 5 4 3 81 45 14.29
Martinez,C 0.0 0 0 0 3 0 19 7 19.29
Choate 0.1 0 0 0 0 0 6 4 0.00
Maness 1.0 2 3 3 0 0 16 13 6.23
Freeman,S 0.1 1 0 0 1 1 16 8 27.00
Neshek 0.2 0 0 0 0 0 6 5 0.00
Miller,S 2.0 3 0 0 1 2 38 23 3.86
8.0 11 8 8 9 6 182 105
Nationals INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA
Zimmermann,J W 1-0 5.0 8 1 1 0 5 67 47 3.00
Thornton H 2 0.1 1 0 0 0 1 9 5 4.50
Stammen H 2 0.2 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 0.00
Barrett H 1 1.0 0 0 0 0 1 12 7 0.00
Storen 1.0 2 1 1 1 2 21 14 2.45
Soriano,R 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 14 8 27.00
9.0 11 2 2 1 9 125 83
StL: Taveras batted for Choate in the 5th
Pierzynski batted for Neshek in the 7th
Descalso batted for Miller,S in the 9th
Was: Schierholtz batted for Zimmermann,J in the 5th
Zimmerman,R batted for Barrett in the 7th
Espinosa batted for Storen in the 8th
E-Wong. 2B-Carpenter,M(3), Span(4), Werth(2). RBI-Holliday(6), Molina,Y(3),
Werth 2(3), LaRoche 2(4), Desmond 3(4), Ramos,W(2). K-Jay, Holliday,
Adams,Ma 2, Molina,Y, Grichuk 2, Wong, Lynn, Rendon, Desmond, Harper 2,
Zimmerman,R, Espinosa. BB-Peralta,Jh, Span, Rendon, Werth 2, LaRoche 2,
Desmond, Harper, Cabrera,A.
GWRBI: Desmond
Temperature: 55, Field: wet, Sky: clear, Wind: in from left at 14 MPH.
Attendance: 41,339
Game Time: 3:25