Photo by Andrew Lang for TalkNats
After the NLDS, Nationals manager Dave Martinez was able to do some reseeding of his rotation for the NLCS after game one with Anibal Sanchez. They made a decision to push Corbin back to game four on extra rest and have him available early in the series for a LOOGY spot, and Corbin shined in his appearance to get lefty Kolten Wong out. Now Corbin takes the mound in arguably one of the most important games of his career. Can this lefty match his fellow starters who all notched zero earned runs in this NLCS? Can he match Sanchez and Scherzer and put up a no-hitter for at least six innings? All Martinez wants is to go 1-0 today. That is a tall order, but certainly doable.
It took four games and the Cardinals finally changed their lineup. Edman in the leadoff, Jose Martinez is batting second and Bader in the back of the order, and Dexter Fowler sits. This is what most of the media were looking for, but Cardinals manager Mike Shildt showed the stubborness that you cannot do in a postseason series. You have to start your best eight position players, and the Nats will go with Yan Gomes to catch Corbin and the seven other position players will remain the same.
In the head-to-head games, Corbin has done well against the Cardinals batters:
| Name | PA | AB | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | BA ▼ |
OBP | SLG | OPS | SH | SF | HBP | GDP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paul Goldschmidt | 6 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | .500 | .667 | .750 | 1.417 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Harrison Bader | 8 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 5 | .375 | .375 | .875 | 1.250 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Dexter Fowler | 19 | 19 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | .316 | .316 | .474 | .789 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jose Martinez | 10 | 10 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | .300 | .300 | .400 | .700 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Yadier Molina | 18 | 16 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | .250 | .333 | .250 | .583 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Matt Carpenter | 19 | 14 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 7 | .214 | .421 | .429 | .850 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Marcell Ozuna | 24 | 21 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 8 | .190 | .292 | .333 | .625 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Paul DeJong | 9 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | .143 | .333 | .143 | .476 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Kolten Wong | 7 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .000 | .000 | .000 | .000 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Tommy Edman | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | .000 | .333 | .000 | .333 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Yairo Munoz | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 135 | 119 | 29 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 16 | 15 | 35 | .244 | .328 | .387 | .715 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
Gates open today at 5:30 pm. The Nats will be handing out red towels with the curly W logo. Much to the delight of Washington Mystics fans who saw that team win the WNBA title this week, some of the team will be in attendance tonight as the first pitch will go to Elena Delle Donne who was the MVP of the Mystics. The National Anthem will be performed by the U.S. Army Old Guard Fife and Drum Corps, and Mayor Muriel Bowser will get to yell ‘Play Ball’.
St. Louis Cardinals at Washington Nationals
Stadium: Nationals Park, Washington, D.C.
1st Pitch: 8:05 pm EDT
TV: TBS, MLB.TV
Nats Radio: 106.7 FM The Fan; SiriusXM® ( Streaming Internet 869)
Line-up subject to change (without notice):
