Stephen Strasburg on Monday pitched seven shutout innings to put the Washington Nationals on the brink of their first World Series appearance after clobbering the St Louis Cardinals 8-1.
Strasburg struck out 12 and allowed just one run, while veteran Howie Kendrick drove in three runs for the Nationals, who seized a commanding 3-0 lead in the National League Championship Series.
“It has been special to see what he is doing,” second baseman Kendrick said of Strasburg.
After the game, Strasburg was mobbed by his teammates in a dugout celebration.
“I am not much of a hugger, but they kind of surrounded me, so I kind of had to take it,” Strasburg said, jokingly.
The Nationals could sweep the series in four straight with a win at home yesterday.
They are one of two current Major League Baseball teams — along with the Seattle Mariners — to have never played in the World Series.
The franchise was based in Montreal, Canada, and known as the Expos for the first 36 years of its existence.
“It’s a little surreal and I think that’s why it’s important that we don’t look too far ahead,” pitcher Sean Doolittle said about being one victory away from their first World Series.
Strasburg has a 1.10 ERA over seven career playoff appearances, four of which have come in these playoffs.
The offensively challenged Cardinals have scored just two runs in the series and the Nationals starting pitchers Anibal Sanchez, Max Scherzer and Strasburg have not given up an earned run in 21-2/3 innings of the series.
Sanchez and Scherzer flirted with no-hitters in the first two games.
The Nationals have used a mix of young guns and experienced vets for their playoff success.
On Monday, Kendrick tied a league championship series record with three doubles. Kendrick’s grand slam in Game 5 of the National League Division Series was the deciding blow in a thrilling rally to beat the Los Angeles Dodgers.
“In a time when they push youth, the old guys can still do it,” the 36-year-old Kendrick said. “We got a great mix. Youth is cool — we were all there at one time — but it is fun to see us having success, too.”
He highlighted a four-run third inning with a two-run double and had another RBI with a double in the fifth inning.
Anthony Rendon, Ryan Zimmerman and Victor Robles each had two hits for the Nationals, who were 19-31 in late May, but have now won 15 of their past 17 games thanks in part to their pitching staff.
“That’s what our team is built around [pitching]. You have those guys, those horses, that take the ball every fifth day,” Zimmerman said. “They haven’t disappointed, obviously, in the post-season, but they’ve kind of been the backbone of this team all year.”
St Louis have had just 11 hits in the three games. The Cardinals were held without a hit into the eighth inning of Game 1 and into the seventh inning of Game 2.
“We’ve got to get a lead at some point in this series. Hard to win a game if you can’t get a lead,” St Louis manager Mike Shildt said. “We’ve got to figure out a way to create some offense early in the game and be able to hold it there.”
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