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The Washington Nationals are one game away from their first World Series in franchise history. Stephen Strasburg dominated over seven innings and the Nationals offense knocked out Jack Flaherty and the St. Louis Cardinals bullpen en route to an 8-1 victory. The Nationals lead the series 3-0.
Strasburg ran up his pitch count, finishing with 117 on the night, but he made the most of them. He gave up seven hits and one unearned run, but struck out 12 and continues to impress in his postseason career. He entered the game with a 1.32 career ERA in 34 innings and managed to lower it on Monday.
Flaherty got through the first two innings, but the wheels fell off in the third. Victor Robles singled and Strasburg advanced him to second base. Trea Turner struck out, but two outs is apparently when the Nationals do their best work. Adam Eaton singled, Anthony Rendon doubled, Juan Soto walked, and Howie Kendrick doubled to knock in four runs. Kendrick continued his ridiculous October, going 3-for-4 with three RBIs and two runs scored. He’s hitting .417 in the NLCS and .314 in the playoffs.
The Nationals added two more two-out runs in the fifth, Victor Robles homered in the sixth, and Ryan Zimmerman had a two-out RBI single in the seventh. Aside from a fielding mishap by Soto in the top of the seventh inning, it was a complete effort by the Nationals.
The two squads return to action Tuesday evening with first pitch scheduled for 8:05 p.m. on TBS. Dakota Hudson takes the hill hoping to save the Cardinals season. Patrick Corbin will start for the Nationals looking to complete the sweep.