It took a come-from-behind grand slam by Trea Turner to put his team up 6-4 at the same time the Pittsburgh Pirates went from a no-hitter to a beatdown on the Cubs to turn the Magic number to ZERO. The Nats now know they are going to the postseason as a Wild Card team which is unfamiliar territory for this team, but as Sean Doolittle said it does not matter as it is still a way into the dance. The Nats were behind in this game by a score of 4-0 then chipped away and won it on the Turner grand slam. Max Scherzer gave up a 3-run home run in the first inning and a solo home run, but you had the feeling the Nats could comeback and they did. When Turner’s grand slam ball entered the Phillies’ bullpen, it simultaneously turned Scherzer’s night from a potential loss to a potential win that became a reality three innings later.
This team was left for dead by some writers and many fans on May 24th when the team on that morning was 19-31, but Martinez’s team never gave up. Tonight was just another example of how they are never out of the game until the last out is recorded. They shocked the Mets when they were down by six runs in the 9th inning to beat them earlier this month so tonight’s comeback was nothing in comparison in the degree of difficulty.
“We’re going to stay in the fight,” manager Dave Martinez said.
“No finger pointing. No anonymous quotes,” general Manager Mike Rizzo said when the team had a losing record in May.
The Nationals won this game in what was there fifth doubleheader sweep since the 2018 season. Those sweeps are difficult enough to get one, but Martinez’s team made those a constant in this 2019 season.
This postseason team is the fifth in the Nationals short history and their third in the last four years. This is only the 9th team in MLB history to reach the postseason after being 12 or more games below .500.
Fangraphs from March 2019, How good were the projections?
