Game three of the NLDS between the Washington Nationals and the San Francisco Giants was another thriller until the end on Monday night. The Giants were supposed to sweep and advance to the NLCS with their best starter on the mound, Madison Bumgarner, and having momentum from winning games one and two on the road in Washington. However, the Nationals had other plans and sent a clear message in their 4-1 win that this series is not yet over.
In what proved to be another pitchers duel, the Nationals were the team to come out on top with a pivotal error by Bumgarner in the 7th inning. With runners on first and second, Wilson Ramos laid down a sacrifice bunt which was fielded by Bumgarner and thrown away trying to get the runner out at third. Both Ian Desmond and Bryce Harper were able to score, sending Ramos to second on the throw to home. Asdrubal Cabrera then hit a single, scoring Ramos from second to make it 3-0. Bumgarner escaped the inning without giving up any more runs, but the damage was already done. He ended the night after seven innings, giving up two earned runs, six hits, one walk and struck out six.
In the top of the ninth inning, Bryce Harper hit a monster home run off of Jean Machi to make it 4-0. In the bottom half of the 9th, however, the Giants would string together a few hits and score a run against Drew Storen, but ultimately fell short and lost the game 4-1.
The Giants could not figure out Washington’s starting pitching yet again, thanks to Doug Fister‘s phenomenal performance throwing 7 innings, allowing no runs and giving up only four hits. San Francisco has managed to score only 3 runs off of Nationals starting pitching through three games.
Game 4
Tonight, Gio Gonzalez (10-10, 3.57 ERA) will face Ryan Vogelsong (8-14, 4.00 ERA) as the Giants will look to rebound from a crushing loss that may have now shifted momentum to their opponents. Although their backs are to the wall, the Nationals still have a lot of fight left in them as we’ve seen on Monday night.
The Giants will have to look for ways to score against another solid starter for Washington. They are batting .208 in the series with only one home run and six RBI’s, compared to the Nationals average of .172 with three home runs and five RBI’s.
With the Giants up 2-1 in the series, the Nationals could make things interesting tonight if they can somehow take the series back to Washington for game five. If they succeed, the Giants could be in store for a major upset. Nonetheless, tonight’s game will be a must see for any fan.
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