October 18, 2013: Nationals 3 Cardinals 2 (Nationals win NLCS, 4-2)

The Washington Nationals are going to the World Series for the 2nd time in 3 years after dispatching the Cardinals in a 3-2 Game 6 win. The Nats got on the board early with a run in the 1st on a Denard Span single, a Ryan Zimmerman double, and a groundball out off the bat of Jayson Werth. They added 2 more in the 6th when Bryce Harper walked and 2 batters later the bases were cleared by an Adam Laroche home run. Those 2 extra runs proved necessary as the Cardinals scored in both the 8th and 9th, but couldn't get that third run. The Cards missed a golden opportunity in the 8th when Matt Holiday ended the inning with a 1-17 HR where the split came up a 19.

The series MVP is Laroche, who hit .350 in the series and led the team with 8 RBI.

The Nats will await the winner of the ALCS, where the Red Sox currently lead the Tigers 3 games to 2. The Nats have home field advantage thanks to the NL's 6-1 All Star Game victory. The winning pitcher in that game? Stephen Strasburg, who won today and won in game 2. He will likely start game 3 of the World Series, with Jordan Zimmermann getting the game 1 start and Gio Gonzalez getting the call for game 2.

BOXSCORE: 2013 St. Louis Cardinals At 2013 Washington Nationals    10/18/2013
 
  Cardinals          AB  R  H RBI AVG     Nationals          AB  R  H RBI AVG
  M.Carpenter 2B      4  0  1  0 .262     D.Span CF           4  0  1  0 .175  
  C.Beltran RF        4  0  1  1 .333     R.Zimmerman 3B      4  1  3  0 .268  
C-A.Chambers PR,RF    0  0  0  0 ----     J.Werth RF          4  0  1  1 .289  
  M.Holliday LF       4  0  1  0 .243     B.Harper LF         3  1  0  0 .394  
  M.Adams 1B          4  1  1  1 .214     I.Desmond SS        3  0  1  0 .306  
  Y.Molina C          4  0  1  0 .282     A.Laroche 1B        3  1  1  2 .290  
  D.Descalso SS       4  0  0  0 .375     W.Ramos C           3  0  0  0 .250  
  D.Freese 3B         4  0  0  0 .303     A.Rendon 2B         3  0  0  0 .091  
  J.Jay CF            3  1  1  0 .212     S.Strasburg P       2  0  2  0 .286  
  J.Kelly P           1  0  0  0 .000   B-S.Lombardozzi PH    1  0  0  0 .063  
A-S.Robinson PH       0  0  0  0 .167     T.Clippard P        0  0  0  0 ----  
  J.Axford P          0  0  0  0 ----     R.Soriano P         0  0  0  0 ----  
  S.Maness P          0  0  0  0 ----                                          
                     -- -- -- ---                            -- -- -- ---      
         Totals      32  2  6  2                 Totals      30  3  9  3
 
A-Pinch Hit For Kelly In 6th Inning
B-Pinch Hit For Strasburg In 7th Inning
C-Pinch Ran For Beltran In 8th Inning
 
Cardinals....... 0 0 0  0 0 0  0 1 1  -  2  6  0
Nationals....... 1 0 0  0 0 2  0 0    -  3  9  1
 
Cardinals (5-5)          IP       H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR  PC    ERA
J.Kelly LOSS(1-2)         5       7   1   1   0   4   0  70   3.24
J.Axford                  0 2/3   1   2   2   1   0   1  18  19.29
S.Maness                  2 1/3   1   0   0   0   3   0  24   0.00
Totals                    8       9   3   3   1   7   1
 
Nationals (7-3)          IP       H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR  PC    ERA
S.Strasburg WIN(2-0)      7       3   0   0   1   5   0 100   3.72
T.Clippard HOLD(3rd)      1       2   1   1   0   0   0  21   4.15
R.Soriano SAVE(5th)       1       1   1   0   0   0   1  10   1.80
Totals                    9       6   2   1   1   5   1
 
ATTENDANCE- 40,080 DATE- Friday, October 18th 2013 TIME- Night WEATHER- Average
UMPIRES- Kerwin Danley, Lance Barksdale, Vic Carapazza, Gary Cederstrom
T- 2:36
LEFT ON BASE- Cardinals: 5  Nationals: 4
DOUBLE PLAYS- Cardinals: 1  Nationals: 1
ERRORS- W.Ramos
DOUBLES- R.Zimmerman(1st)
HOME RUNS- M.Adams(3rd), A.Laroche(3rd)
RBIs- C.Beltran(10th), M.Adams(3rd), J.Werth(3rd), A.Laroche-2(12th)
SACRIFICE HITS- S.Maness
WALKS- S.Robinson, B.Harper
STRIKE OUTS- M.Carpenter, C.Beltran-2, M.Adams, D.Descalso, D.Span-2, J.Werth,
             B.Harper, A.Laroche, A.Rendon, S.Lombardozzi
GIDP- B.Harper
2-out RBI- A.Laroche-2, C.Beltran
RLISP 2-out- W.Ramos, M.Holliday-2
TEAM RISP- Cardinals: 1 for 3  Nationals: 0 for 3
WEB GEMS- Bot 1st: Yadier Molina blocked the plate, saving a run!
 
Stephen Strasburg went 7 strong innings and Ryan Zimmerman had 3 base hits as
the Washington Nationals beat the St. Louis Cardinals by a score of 3 to
2.
 
St. Louis found themselves trailing quickly as the Washington bats came
through in the first inning plating an isolated run on 2 hits.  St. Louis had
a chance to come back in the 9th but they came up short.  
 
Strasburg(2-0) got the win allowing no runs in 7 innings. Rafael Soriano
gained credit for his 5th save.  Joe Kelly(1-2) was charged with the loss.
 
'We won because we did the little things right.' Davey Johnson said after the
game.  'This is why we practice things over and over and over, so when we get
in close games we don't make mistakes.'