The Washington Nationals skidded by with the win against the
St. Louis Cardinals in the first round of the nation division league series.
Since the series is best three out of five that means that the Nationals only
have to pull away with two more wins to move onto the next component in their
journey to winning the world series.
The cardinals had home field advantage in this first run with
the Nationals, giving the Cardinals one more shot to have all their fans be
present to give them more moral. After the second game they travel up to
Washington for a range of one to three games depending on who keeps winning the
games.
In the top of the second inning the Nationals game through
with the first run scored in the game, this gave the cardinals the drive to
start scoring and getting points in the books. They came back in the bottom of
the second inning and scored two runs. These runs gave them the lead and the
crowd gave them a much needed energy boost of sorts. It gave them hope that
they could possibly win this game if they had strong defense and held them at
their one messily run.
Wainwright was the starting pitcher for the Cardinals; he
proved to everyone that he has a nasty curve ball that tricked almost everyone.
Only Suzuki, the catcher for the Nationals, was able to get a solid base hit
off of one of the sneaky curve balls. Wainwright got over 10 strike outs and did
very well at moving the ball around the plate. Over all the umpire behind the
plate wasn’t calling anything high or inside but was definitely favoring the
lower outside pitches.
After the 7th inning Wainwright was pulled out, he
was letting too many players get on base and barely closing the innings with no
runs. Motte stepped in for him and shut out the 7th inning with
runners on first and third. The next inning was not as promising for the
Cardinals as Motte gave up a walk right away and throwing vanilla pitches right
down the middle. The Nationals were making solid contact with the ball and
sending it to the gaps. Just as some would have guessed, Motte get two runs
come in, giving the Nationals a 3-2 lead in the top of the 8th.
With the Cardinals down and up to bat the energy in the
entire stadium, even in the dugout was depleted. No one was cheering they were
sulking about the fact that the other team is ahead and its crunch time. These
guys are professionals, they are supposed to perform under great pressure and
make miracles happen. With a strike out and a pop up it was Hollidays turn up
to bat with two outs taken, he did nothing. That inning was shut out and the
cardinals were supposed to get their shit together right here right now, but
no, that didn’t happen.
The cardinals had one more opportunity to do something but
their bats basically shut down after the 6th inning or so. They
needed a spark in the lineup but the best hitter on the team, Craig was not
near up to bat. The game ended in a strike out and the Nationals took the first
game in the series from them. Hopefully they can put this game behind them and bring
out the reigning champs that are within.(576)
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