The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
■ THE OTHER NLDS: A look at how Washington and L.A. also ended up at Game 5,
WASHINGTON — Max Scherzer is 35. So is Ryan Zimmerman.
The Washington Nationals would not be headed to a win-or-go-home Game 5 in their NL Division Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers without them.
“We’re a bunch of viejos. We’re old guys,” Scherzer joked. “Old guys can still do it.”
Sure can. And for a guy whose teams used to lose repeatedly in the postseason, Scherzer sure is delivering now.
Every time he’s pitched this October, the Nationals have won. His latest outing was a season-saving, seven-inning masterpiece that combined with Zimmerman’s three-run homer lifted the wild-card Nationals to a 6-1 victory over Los Angeles on Monday night, tying the bestof-five NLDS at 2.
“I was just gassed. I was out,” said Scherzer, who threw 109 pitches. “I was empty in the tank.”
Scowling and muttering to himself as rain fell for part of his gritty performance, Scherzer allowed one run and four hits while striking out nine — and, most importantly for Washington, he prevented L.A. from closing out the NLDS after taking a 2-1 lead into Game 4. “He really gave it all he had,” said Anthony Rendon, who drove in three runs for Washington.
With fans who braved rain chanting, “Beat L.A.!” in the late going, Sean Doolittle and Daniel Hudson combined to get the last six outs for Washington, which will send Stephen Strasburg to the mound against Walker Buehler tonight at Los Angeles.
“If I could bet, I’d bet on him,” Nationals outfielder Adam Eaton said about Strasburg. “He’s a very good pitcher. A polished pitcher. To have him healthy and ready to go in that situation only boosts our confidence.”
Whichever team advances to the NL Championship Series will face the winner of today’s Braves-Cardinals Game 5.
Zimmerman showed what he still can do at the plate by taking a 97 mph pitch, the second thrown by reliever Pedro Baez, and turning it into a high-arching 400-foot-plus rainbow that descended onto the green batter’s eye in straightaway center field for a three-run shot that made it 5-1. That was after Julio Urias, L.A.’s third pitcher and the one charged with the loss, began the fifth by serving up a line-drive single to Trea Turner, who finished with three hits. Rendon, who led the majors with 126 RBIs during the regular season but entered Monday with just one in the playoffs, delivered a run-scoring single that made it 2-1. Rendon also brought home runs via sacrifice flies in the third and sixth.
That was plenty for Scherzer, who clenched his teeth while getting through his last inning after loading the bases by issuing a pair of walks with one out in the seventh. But he got out of that by striking out pinch hitter Chris Taylor and getting Joc Pederson to ground out.
The Dodgers’ lone run came when Justin Turner connected for a homer to left on Scherzer’s 10th pitch, a 95 mph fastball. But from there, facing an L.A. lineup stacked with a half-dozen lefty hitters, Scherzer displayed the sort of ornery dominance that helped him win three Cy Young Awards.
L.A.’s own three-time Cy guy, Clayton Kershaw, will be available to follow Buehler tonight.