*Photo from Sports Illustrated*
Washington wins series 4-0
For the first time in franchise history, the Washington Nationals will be playing in the world series. Patrick Corbin had a good night, Howie Kendrick came up big again, and the Nats beat the St.Louis Cardinals 7-4 to sweep them out of the NLCS and thrust Washington into the world series. Five months ago, the Nats were 19-31 and Dave Martinez's job was in jeopardy. Now, it seems like they're on top of the world. Martinez said that ''Often, bumpy roads lead to beautiful places."
The Nats scored all of their runs in the first inning. Anthony Rendon hit a sac fly to score Trea Turner to open up the scoring. Next, Juan Soto doubled Adam Eaton home to make it 2-0. Victor Robles then hit an RBI single to make it 3-0. Yan Gomes and Turner then each hit two run singles to make it 7-0 before Corbin stepped on the mound. Still, the Cardinals made it a game. Yadier Molina hit a solo homer in the 4th, Harrison Bader scored on a groundout, and Jose Martinez hit a two run double to make it 7-4. It wasn't enough.
Corbin went the minimum 5 innings for Washington, giving up 4 runs on 4 hits and 3 walks. He struck out 12 Cardinal hitters en route to his first win of the postseason. Daniel Hudson got a 4 out save for his 4th of the postseason. Tanner Rainey, Sean Doolittle, and Hudson locked up the game after Corbin left. Turner said that ''I just kept counting down: We're 12 outs from the World Series. We're nine outs from the World Series, six. Three." Kendrick, who was named NLCS MVP, said that ''We think we can compete with any team, any time, people always get caught up in the things that are on paper, but the reality of it is you have to go out and play. Once we get out on the field, anything can happen.''
Dakota Hudson got the loss, getting just one out in that nightmare of a first inning for St.Louis. He gave up 7 runs on 5 hits and one walk. Adam Wainwright had to come in and finish the first inning for Hudson. Paul Goldschmidt said that ''Of course, we could've played better, but we didn't." The Cardinal bats fell ice cold, being outscored 20-6 in the series. Manager Mike Shildt said that ''We proved - and this doesn't require advanced sabermetrics, you have to get a lead to win a game." Indeed, St.Louis never led at any point all series.
The Nationals will get a nice period of rest leading up to the world series, which starts on Tuesday, October 22, at the stadium of whoever represents the american league. At minimum, two games will be played in Washington. The last time the world series was in Washington was over 86 years ago, when the Washington Senators lost in 5 games to the New York Giants. The Senators eventually left and became the Montreal Expos. Ryan Zimmerman said of that fact that "sometimes, you got to wait for good things.''
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