*Photo from the Los Angeles Times*
Washington wins series 3-2
15 years. That was how long it had been since the Washington Nationals/Montreal Expos had won a playoff series. Stephen Strasburg pitched a good game, Howie Kendrick hit a clutch grand slam, and the Washington Nationals rallied to beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 7-3 in 10 innings to advance to the NLCS. Haunted by the failures of game 5's past, Washington fell behind 3-0 early, but never gave up, and came back to win. Ironically, this comes after Bryce Harper left Washington for the highest bidder in Philadelphia, who finished a mere 81-81 this season and didn't make the playoffs. Juan Soto said that ''It's not just one player, it's a team."
The Dodgers stormed ahead early on a Max Muncy two run blast to right field. In the second, Kike Hernandez hit a solo shot to center to make the lead 3-0. It stayed that way until the 6th, when Juan Soto hit an RBI single that plated Anthony Rendon to get Washington on the board. In the 8th, against Clayton Kershaw, Rendon took a 1-0 fastball into the left field seats to make it 3-2 Dodgers. On the next pitch, Soto drove the ball 449 feet into center field, tying the game at 3. In the 10th, after a Rendon double and two walks, Kendrick drove the 0-1 pitch from Joe Kelly over the fence for a grand slam, and Washington went nuts.
Strasburg went 6 innings for Washington, allowing 3 runs on 6 hits and one walk. Daniel Hudson got the win, working a scoreless 9th inning. Sean Doolittle locked the Dodgers down in the 10th to clinch it. Rendon said of the drought ending that ''Oh, man, keep fighting, I think that's the story of maybe this organization.'' Kendrick said of the grand slam that ''It was electric. Probably the best moment of my career, we never gave up. The city had faith in us. The fans had faith in us. We believed in ourselves, everybody came through for us.'' Rendon said that "I'm looking in the crowd, I'm enjoying it."
Walker Buehler went 6 2/3 innings for the Dodgers, giving up one run on 4 hits and 3 walks. Kelly took the loss, as he pitched the 10th inning. The Dodgers have won the NL west 7 straight years, and haven't won a world series since 1988. Manager Dave Roberts said that ''Disappointing is probably an understatement." Kershaw sat in lamentation, saying that ''Everything people say is true right now about the postseason." This Dodgers dream didn't end with a boom, it ended with a wimper.
The Nats advance to the NLCS against the St.Louis Cardinals, which starts on Friday night in St.Louis. The Dodgers face another long offseason of question marks. Mr.Roberts, your job is on the line.
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