Nationals win first postseason game in 79 years

Tyler Moore hit a game winning 2 run double
(Jeff Roberson/AP)

On Sunday afternoon the first postseason baseball game in 79 years was played by a Washington D.C. Major League Baseball franchise.  The Washington Nationals, the pride of the nation's capital after winning an MLB best 98 games during the 2012 regular season, continued their historic season by defeating the St. Louis Cardinals 3-2 in game 1 of the NLDS.

Gio Gonzalez, a National League Cy young candidate after winning a majors leading 21 games this season, started the game for Washington.  Gonzalez gave up only 1 hit in 5 innings pitched, but struggled with his command and walked a season high 7 batters.  Gonzalez walked 4 in a wild second inning in which he gave up the only 2 runs of the game on a wild pitch that got by catcher Kurt Suzuki, and on a sacrifice fly by Jon Jay with the bases loaded.  Nationals manager Davey Johnson decided to trust his ace and allowed Gonzalez to continue to pitch for three more innings.

The Cardinals' starting pitcher Adam Wainwright, in his first season back from Tommy John surgery, struck out 10 batters in a masterful 5 and two thirds innings pitched.  Wainwright baffled the Nationals and demonstrated complete control of his knee buckling curve ball.  Wainwright only struggled for a brief stretch of the second inning during which Suzuki put the Nats on on the scoreboard first with an RBI single to the left field gap that brought home first baseman Adam Laroche.

Jayson Werth robbed the St. Louis of a home run
(Dilip Vishwana/Getty Images)

Two crucial momentum shifting defensive plays by the Nationals prevented the Cardinals from pulling away in the latter innings of the game.  In the 6th inning, right fielder Jayson Werth leaped over the right field wall and robbed Daniel Descalso of a 2 run homer that would have given the Cardinals a 3 run lead.  The second crucial event occurred after Washington relief pitcher Ryan Mattheus entered the game with the bases loaded and 0 outs in the 7th inning.  On the first pitch Mattheus threw, the Cardinal's Allen Craig hit a ground ball to Washington shortstop Ian Desmond who threw to home plate for a force out that prevented the Cardinals from scoring.  On the very next pitch, Mattheus got St. Louis catcher Yadier Molina to chase a pitch outside.  Molina hit a ground ball to third baseman Ryan Zimmerman, who flipped it to Danny Espinosa at second base.  Espinosa then leaped over a sliding Cardinal and threw the ball to Laroche at first base for the double play, allowing the Nationals to escape the dire situation unscathed.

Drew Storen struck out Matt Holiday
to end the game
(photo by Nir Levy)

In the top of the 8th inning with left fielder Michael Morse and Desmond both on base, rookie Tyler Moore pinch hit for Mattheus and hammered a 2 run double to put the Nats ahead.  Moore's hit was the biggest of the year for the Nationals and continued a trend of bench players coming up huge for the team.  Reliever Tyler Clippard and closer Drew Storen each disposed of all three of the batters they faced in the last two innings to retain the lead for the Nats.  Storen struck out 6 time all-star left fielder Matt Holiday on three pitches to end the game.
The series will continue tomorrow with the Nationals' Jordan Zimmermann facing Jaime Garcia of the Cardinals.

Washington Nationals at the All-Star Break

The Washington Nationals enter the All-Star break with a 49-34 record, the best in the National League.  Postseason baseball hasn't been played in the nation's capital since 1933, when the Washington Senators lost in the world series to the New York Giants.  D.C. is among the most tortured sports markets of the past two decades, and therefore local fans are brimming with excitement at the prospect of having a first place team.

Stephen Strasburg (photo by Nir Levy)

The Nationals starting pitching rotation of Stephen Strasburg, Gio Gonzalez, Jordan Zimmerman, Edwin Jackson and Ross Detwiler is widely considered the best in the majors and the bullpen is also among the best in baseball.  The Nats lead the league in ERA, WHIP, opponents' batting average, on base percentage, slugging and a plethora of other commonly used statistics.  Strasburg and Gonzalez were both named to the all-star team, Strasburg leads the NL in strikeouts, Gonzalez is tied for the lead in wins, and Zimmermann joins the two in the top 12 of the league in WHIP and ERA.  Strasburg's fastball and Gonzalez's lefty curveball are among the most unhittable pitches in baseball.  Losing streaks are far and few between for the team when it has an ace pitching almost every day.  Among the top story lines of the second half is Strasburg's innings limit.  Because Strasburg is coming off Tommy John surgery the team has decided to follow standard medical protocol and limit Strasburg to 160 innings of pitching this season.  The team will shut him down in early September as the playoff race heats up in order to protect his bright future and reduce the risk that he breaks down at an early age.

Ryan Zimmerman (photo by Nir Levy)

The Nats have weathered serious injuries to many of their key contributors including closer Drew Storen who has yet to make an appearance this season, outfielder Michael Morse who only made his season debut in June, outfielder Jayson Werth who will miss 12 weeks with a broken wrist, catcher Wilson Ramos who is out for the remainder of the season with a torn ACL and third baseman Ryan Zimmerman, who battled a shoulder injury for much of the season's first half.
The Nats have been able to sustain success by having players repeatedly step up and perform in relief of the team's injured stars.  Tyler Clippard, the team's 8th inning setup man has pitched lights out as the team's closer in the absence of his good friend Storen.  Players like rookies Steve Lombardozzi and Tyler Moore have been dependable when given opportunities to play and have provided the team with big hits in crucial situations.

Ian Desmond (photo by Nir Levy)

All-Star shortstop Ian Desmond has improved his play significantly, leads the team in most batting categories and has made spectacular plays defensively.  Desmond's 17 home runs rank 6th in the NL, and are already a single season career high.  First Baseman Adam Laroche has returned from an injury plagued season to play golden glove worthy defense and lead the Nats in OPS and RBIs.  Zimmerman received a cortisone shot in his shoulder two weeks ago and has responded with 5 home runs and 18 RBIs in his last 14 games.  With Morse, who hit 31 home runs last season, back in the lineup the Nats' offense should only improve as the season progresses.

Bryce Harper (photo by Nir Levy)

19 year old rookie sensation Bryce Harper has been better than advertised.  The former number one overall pick was among the most hyped athletes of all time.  Harper was called up from the minors earlier than expected on April 28th and since then has done nothing but dazzle the sports world.  Harper's statistics as a teenager are unprecedented historically and superior to those of MLB legends Mickey Mantle and Ken Griffey Jr.  By being placed on the all-star team in place of the injured Giancarlo Stanton, Harper became the youngest position player ever to be named an all-star.  Harper has taken over as the Nats' starting center fielder providing the team with a potential superstar at the team's position of greatest need and is already among the three best center fielders in the NL.

The second half of the season should surpass the highly entertaining first half in excitement and intrigue.  Follow along to find out if the 2012 Nationals can become only the fourth baseball team in Washington D.C. history to make the postseason.

Note: All photos in this post were taken by me, Nir Levy at a Nationals game on July 6th.