Photo by Michael Daalder for TalkNats
The Nationals have now forced a game #5 with this win tonight! The Hollywood scriptwriters out-did themselves with portraying the sick and frail Stephen Strasburg as the hero of this post-season. Strasburg has now thrown 14.0 innings with a 0.00 ERA and for anyone who does not know the story — Strasburg was very ill with the flu and was not supposed to pitch. Not only did he pitch, he pitched a gem that rivals the greatest pitching performances in post-season history.
And what a time for Trea Turner to get his first hit of this NLDS with a 3rd inning double and he scored on a fielding error for the game winning run as that 1-to-0 score held up the whole game and Michael Taylor added a grand slam for insurance off of closer Wade Davis in the 8th inning to seal the deal. With the winds blowing in, it did not look like any ball would go into the bleachers tonight making Taylor’s home run that more impressive.
The grand slam can now be called the Bash-in-the-Basket to join the Miracle-in-the-Mums and the 421Bomb in this NLDS.
It wasn’t Michael Taylor who had an irregular heartbeat in the at-bat rather Cubs’ closer Wade Davis who relieved Carl Edwards in the middle of the at-bat threw pitch #2 as his first pitch missed the target and MAT fouled off the pitch — but MAT didn’t miss pitch #3 taking it oppo for the grand slam and dropping it into the Wrigley Field basket that hangs over the field. Another HR carried out by mere inches on a wing and a prayer.
Strasburg’s final line was 7.0 innings, 3-hits, 2 walks, 12 strikeouts.
After Monday night’s loss, Ryan Zimmerman had a simple message with 2-must-win games:
“We’ve won two game in a row before this season if you didn’t know,” Ryan Zimmerman said.
With this win in an elimination game, Dusty Baker is off the schneid with his first ever win and a 1-8 record in elimination games.
