NATS ON BRINK OF WORLD SERIES
WASHINGTON – More than 100 pitches in, Stephen Strasburg was adamant he wasn’t quite ready to leave the latest superb start by a Nationals pitcher against the St. Louis Cardinals in the NL Championship Series – a win that put Washington on the verge of the city’s first World Series in 86 years.
It was the seventh inning, and manager Dave Martinez noticed Strasburg had flexed his right leg and reached for that hamstring. So the skipper and a trainer went to the mound to check on their guy.
“I was trying to explain to him, ‘Hey, you just grabbed your hamstring, so there’s a little concern,’” Martinez recalled. “He said, ‘No, I cramped up. It’s fine. I always cramp up.’ He said, ‘I’m staying in the game. I want to finish this inning.’ I said, ‘You sure you’re all right?’ He said, ‘I’m in the game!’”
The right-hander did, indeed, stay in. Even struck out the next two batters to raise his total to 12 Ks, each finished with an off-speed pitch. Strasburg took his turn silencing the Cardinals’ struggling bats, Nationals postseason star Howie Kendrick doubled three times and drove in three more runs, and Washington took a 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven NLCS by beating St. Louis 8-1 Monday night.
“It’s a little surreal,” reliever Sean Doolittle said about being one win from the World Series, “and I think that’s why it’s important that we don’t look too far ahead.”
After Nationals starters Aníbal Sánchez and Max Scherzer flirted with no-hitters in the first two games against the Cardinals, Strasburg wasn’t quite that untouchable: He allowed a double in the second inning, six later singles and one unearned run.