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The Washington Nationals are coming back to D.C. and Nationals Park with fire stemming from the mound and the momentum to keep the winning going. With a 2-0 advantage over the St. Louis Cardinals, the Nationals have the early upper hand. However, the Nats cannot get complacent in the potential seven-game series. It might be a bit early to count out the Cardinals just yet.
Thus far in the series, the Nationals pitching staff has put together two phenomenal games with star outings from aces Max Scherzer and Aníbal Sánchez along with strong relief performances from Sean Doolittle, Patrick Corbin and Daniel Hudson. In Saturday’s 3-1 win, Scherzer recorded 11 strikeouts and only allowed one hit while the relief tag-team effort closed out the game allowing only a single run.
Tonight, Stephen Strasburg will look to keep riding the wave coming.
Wake up, wake up, wake up, wake up…
…it's time to open your #Strasmas GIF.#NLCS // #STAYINTHEFIGHT pic.twitter.com/zZg9lcch1V
— Washington Nationals (@Nationals) October 14, 2019
Cardinals Look to Fight Back
As for the Cardinals, the team hasn’t lost hope and is remaining confident. Game 2 pitcher Adam Wainwright gave his teams’ hitters his full confidence and said he is excited to see what the team can do in Washington. The beauty of baseball according to Wainwright is the chance to go after a win, even after falling short twice before.
“That’s why we play the best of seven”
Jack Flaherty, the 23-year-old ace, will take the mound for St. Louis tonight. The rookie will need to be dominant to help pull his team from suffering another loss. Flaherty made his first two career postseason starts in the division series against the Atlanta Braves, recording a loss in Game 2 and a win in Game 5 to clinch the series.
Jack’s Day#NLCS | #TimeToFly pic.twitter.com/7kYlFPY4CE
— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) October 14, 2019
Cardinals right-fielder Tommy Edman agrees with Wainwright but thinks his team might have been trying to do too much the past two games. Instead, Edman and his fellow hitters might try to relax at the plate and trust the process in tonight’s game.
Nationals Look to Keep it Rolling
As the team returns home and prepares to play in front of their hometown crowd, the team will play in the first-ever National League Championship Series game at Nationals Park on Monday. For starting pitcher Stephen Strasburg, however, “It’s just another game.”
Along with leaving it all out on the field, Strasburg also plans to have fun with his teammates tonight and embrace the opportunity.
Catch the first pitch at 7:38 p.m. ET at Nationals Park.
