The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Nats go up 20 on Cards
ST. LOUIS — Max Scherzer was strength and fire. Anibal Sanchez was artistry and deception.
Two different styles, two absolute gems for the Washington Nationals.
Scherzer followed Sanchez’s near nohitter with a try of his own, and the stingy Nationals beat the St. Louis Cardinals 31 on Saturday for a 20 lead in the NL Championship Series.
“We really want to win here,” the hardcharging Scherzer said. “So that’s what’s going to happen, we’re going to compete and win.”
Scherzer didn’t allow a hit until Paul Goldschmidt led off the seventh inning with a single that left fielder Juan Soto played conservatively with a 10 lead. A day earlier, Sanchez held the Cardinals hitless until Jose Martinez had a pinch single with two down in the eighth.
Sanchez and Scherzer also began the 2013 ALCS with consecutive nohit bids of at least five innings for Detroit against Boston. They are the only pitchers to accomplish the feat in postseason history.
“The way he can change speeds and execute pitches, it’s a treat to really watch and get to pitch with him,” Scherzer said. “For me, I’m just in the moment. I’m not trying to do anything great, I’m just trying to stick within my game.”
Scherzer, a St. Louis native who played college ball for the University of Missouri, struck out 11 and walked two in seven innings.
It doesn’t get any easier for St. Louis, either. Ace Stephen Strasburg gets the ball for the wildcard Nationals when the bestofseven series moves to Washington for Game 3 on Monday night. Jack Flaherty pitches for the Cards.
“They have a pretty strong advantage right now,” Cardinals righthander Adam Wainwright said.
“I’ve got a lot of confidence in our hitters. I think our hitters are going to do something special in Washington.”
St. Louis got another solid performance from Wainwright, who struck out 11 in 7 1⁄3 innings.
But after getting only one hit in the opener, the Cardinals’ inconsistent lineup managed just three hits against Scherzer and the Washington bullpen.
“We trust in each other. We’ve been in this position before,” Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina said. “We just have to figure out how to get better.”
The NL Central champions got their first run of the series when center fielder Michael A. Taylor misplayed Martinez’s pinchhit liner into an RBI double with two outs in the eighth. But Dexter Fowler flied out on Sean Doolittle’s next pitch on a tough day to see the ball with the shadows from the midafternoon start.
Patrick Corbin got the first out of the ninth before Daniel Hudson earned his third save of the playoffs. The righthander was reinstated from the postseason paternity list before the game after he missed the series opener to be with his wife, Sara, for the birth of their third child, a girl named Millie.
Corbin is expected to start Game 4 for the Nationals on Tuesday night.
Scherzer, who has pitched two nohitters in the regular season, has a record five career postseason nohit bids of at least five innings, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. The threetime Cy Young Award winner came closest to finishing in Game 3 of the 2017 NL Division Series, getting one out in the seventh inning before allowing a hit.
There have only been two postseason nohitters. Don Larsen threw a perfect game for the New York Yankees against Brooklyn in the 1956 World Series, and Roy Halladay pitched a nohitter for the Philadelphia Phillies in the 2010 NL Division Series.
“It’s a good ballclub, but we’ve got great pitchers,” Taylor said. “They went out and executed pitch after pitch.”
The Cardinals got one baserunner into scoring position while Scherzer was on the mound. Kolten Wong walked with one out in the first and stole second, but Goldschmidt and Marcell Ozuna struck out.
After Goldschmidt’s hit, Ozuna struck out again and Molina bounced into an inningending double play on Scherzer’s final pitch of the afternoon.
Washington went ahead to stay when Taylor homered on Wainwright’s first pitch of the third. The Nationals added two more on Adam Eaton’s double down the firstbase line with one out in the eighth.
“This is really, it’s not just one guy carrying this team or two guys,” Scherzer said. “It’s really just a collective of everybody out there doing their job.”
TRAINER’S ROOM
Nationals: C Kurt Suzuki returned to the starting lineup after being sidelined by a head injury. He got hurt by a foul ball that ricocheted during Washington’s clinching victory in Game 5 of the NLDS against the Dodgers on Wednesday night. … OF Victor Robles was out of the lineup again because of a strained right hamstring. He got hurt in Game 2 against Los Angeles.
UP NEXT
Flaherty struck out eight in six innings in St. Louis’ 131 victory over Atlanta in Game 5 of the NL Division Series on Wednesday. The righthander turns 24 on Tuesday.
Strasburg made two starts against St. Louis this season, going 10 with a 2.31 ERA. He has allowed four runs in 15 innings in the playoffs.