Final thoughts
Well, I said it would come down to the bullpens, didn’t I? I just didn’t think Clayton Kershaw would be one of the relievers involved. You have to be happy for him, after so many postseason heartbreaks, he’s finally been part of a genuinely great moment.
Of course, if you’re a Nationals fan you’re probably just more annoyed that your season came down to Wilmer Difo. It’s a cruel game.
That will do it from us here at the Guardian. Thanks for following along with us tonight, especially those who contributed. Stay with the Guardian throughout the MLB playoffs! Ciao!
The Los Angeles Dodgers will be heading to Chicago for Game 1 of the National League Championship Series! The Washington Nationals have failed once again, to win a postseason series.
Dodgers win!
Dodgers 4-3 Nationals, bottom 9th
And somehow Wilmer Difo is the Nationals’ last out, pinch-hitting for Melancon, the 40th player used in this game. How. He takes a ball. 1-0. Difo fouls of the next offering. 1-1. And Difo swings again. It’s 1-2. The Nationals season is now down to a strike.
Difo hits one foul. Washington is still alive. 1-2, Difo swings and misses. A throw to first completes the strikeout and ends the game!
Dodgers win! KERSHAW WITH THE SAVE!
Dodgers 4-3 Nationals, bottom 9th
Murphy pops up… and the infield fly rule is in effect. Two down.
Dodgers 4-3 Nationals, bottom 9th
Kershaw’s first pitch is 95 mph, but it’s outside. Oh and Kershaw is operating on one day rest, just going to throw that in the mix too.
Dodgers 4-3 Nationals, bottom 9th
Kershaw is facing Daniel Muphy, also. Because of course. If you have a Dodgers fan in your life, tell them that you love them now.
This is no longer a game, this is a scientific experiment to see how many different ways a great player can be put into a situation where he can lose it all for his ball club in the postseason.
Dodgers 4-3 Nationals, bottom 9th
Roberts leaves Jansen in to face Werth. He misses, that’s his fifth straight pitch out of the zone. 1-0. His next pitch? There’s a strike. 1-1. The next pitch? Outside. 2-1. Werth fouls a ball off, which is bad luck for Harper who had second stolen cleanly. Now it’s 2-2 with Harper back at first.
Pitch No. 50 for Jansen is a ball. 3-2. And 3-2… he walks him! Kershaw is coming in with one out and two on. I feel bad for him already and he hasn’t lost the game yet.
Dodgers 4-3 Nationals, bottom 9th
Bryce Harper is up next.
Oh and Clayton Kershaw is throwing in the Dodgers pen. Just throwing that out there.
Jansen throws three straight balls to Ruiz, he’s at 44 pitches and could be losing command at this point.
3-0 pitch. It’s high. And Ruiz takes first base. Here comes Dave Roberts. Oh god no this isn’t going to happen is it?
Dodgers 4-3 Nationals, bottom 9th
Jansen is pitching against Trea Turner. After taking a ball, Turner hits a foul pop up that the Dodgers can’t make a play on. 1-1. Turner fouls another pitch off. 1-2. Turner swings and misses, the catcher throws to first to complete the out.
Big out.
Wait what am I saying? OF COURSE IT’S A BIG OUT. THESE ARE ALL RATHER LARGE OUTS AT THIS POINT IN THE SERIES/GAME.
Dodgers 4-3 Nationals, bottom 9th
Listen: Washington is going to tie this and we’re going to spend the next two hours together. I’m not saying I’m *for* this turn of events, but it feels inevitable.
Dodgers 4-3 Nationals, top 9th
And Justin Turner flies out to Harper and just like that we’re at the bottom of the ninth. The Nationals’ last stand?
Dodgers 4-3 Nationals, top 9th
Mark Melancon is back up for the top of the 9th. Ruiz strikes out swinging. Seagar pops out to Stephen Drew. It feels like everything’s in fast-forward at this point compared to previous innings.
Dodgers 4-3 Nationals, bottom 8th
And it’s down to Michael Taylor who could do a lot to win over Nationals fans if he manages to-
Oh and he’s struck out already. To the ninth!
Dodgers 4-3 Nationals, bottom 8th
Pedro Severino, who has been in as the Nationals catcher for the last inning (probably should have mentioned this earlier, but there’s been a lot of moves, okay) hits a routine fly ball. Two down.
Dodgers 4-3 Nationals, bottom 8th
Espinosa is thinking bunt, and he bunts right through Jansen’s first pitch. 0-1. He bunts again, and pops it right up and Gonazlez gloves it. One down.
Dodgers 4-3 Nationals, bottom 8th
And hey here’s Stephen Drew who, since I just made fun of him, will probably now tie the game. Jansen gets him into a 1-2 count, but then throws two straight out of the zone. Drew with a full count here, at this point just getting him to throw as many pitches as possible is helpful.
And ball four. Drew’s on first base and there’s nobody out.
Dodgers 4-3 Nationals, top 8th
Gotta think Culberson’s not going to bunt here. On 1-1, he hits a comebacker to Melancon and that’s that. To the bottom of the 8th!
Dodgers 4-3 Nationals, top 8th
Did they just bring in Stephen Drew to replace Rendon in a one-run game? That seems… not wise.
Melancon intentionally walks Howie Kendrick. It feels like Ollie Perez could have done that.
Dodgers 4-3 Nationals, top 8th
PITCHING CHANGE!
Yeah I know, I know. But this might be the last one for a while because Dusty’s bringing in his closer, Mark Melancon into the game.
Dodgers 4-3 Nationals, top 8th
Pederson reaches to first on a base-on-balls and, of course, Jansen has to hit for himself. He manages to lay down a successful bunt. At least someone can this game.
Dodgers 4-3 Nationals, top 8th
Reddick is up here facing Perez who is still pitching for the Nationals. Reddick grounds out to Espinsoa at short. Rather swiftly. I am thankful.
ONE HOUR SIX MINUTE SEVENTH INNING
— Grant Brisbee (@mccoveychron) October 14, 2016
It felt much, much longer.
Dodgers 4-3 Nationals, bottom 7th
And it’s up to Rendon, who falls 0-2 almost immediately, including missing a mistake pitch he could have hammered.
He fouls off the next pitch, staying alive. 0-2 still. And he swings and misses and leaves the basses loaded and… is this allowed? Is this okay?
Yes, yes, apparently 7th innings can actually end. It’s actually over. The 8th inning isn’t just a myth.
Updated
Dodgers 4-3 Nationals, bottom 7th
With Harper on second, that frees up first base and, after a brief discussion, the Dodgers decide they’re gonna walk Daniel Murphy for the second time this game.
Dodgers 4-3 Nationals, bottom 7th
Werth takes the first two pitches, both are outside. 2-0. Werth swings, pop fly out of play. 2-1. Werth fouls off the next one. 2-2.
A 96 mph offering is… just off the plate. 3-2. The seventh inning will never end it will go on and on forever.
He hits another one… JUST FOUL.
And the next pitch… he swings and misses! Strike three! Two down. Harper steals second on the play.
Dodgers 4-3 Nationals, bottom 7th
Bryce Harper attempts to tie it up with one swing but ultimately only hits air. The Nationals decide now to bring in a pinch-runner because WTF not? It’s Joe Ross for Robinson.
And IT WORKS OUT! Harper hits a rocket and Ross makes it to third base on the single. There’s only one out in the inning, which means the Nationals can tie it on an out.
Dodgers 4-3 Nationals, bottom 7th
Or maybe Roberts doesn’t have his bullpen set up like he wants because he is coming in with Kenley Jansen, his closer, here in the 7th inning. Who knows how long he can keep him in the game.
Justin Turner pops it up… it’s a long run for Reddick but he tracks it down for, finally, the FIRST out of the inning.
Dodgers 4-3 Nationals, bottom 7th
I am still not even processing everything that’s gone on this inning. I’m not even processing who the heck is even in the game anymore.
It’s Clint Robinson batting and he gets a single and we’ve reached the end of the Day-ton.
MORE PITCHING CHANGES!
Updated
Chris Heisey hits a two-run home run! Dodgers 4-3 Nationals
Dodgers 4-3 Nationals, bottom 7th
And hey look a pinch-hitter! We have Chris Heisey hitting for Lobaton here, it’s like a Little League game and everybody gets an appearance.
AND OF COURSE AS I SAY IT, THE MOVE WORKS! HEISEY HITS A TWO-RUN HOME RUN!
Updated
Dodgers 4-1 Nationals, bottom 7th
Hey we have a new pitcher! Despite pulling his starter in the third, Dave Roberts might be in a better spot with his bullpen. Which is mind-boggling. Here we have Grant Dayton, who is facing Espinosa. Who takes three straight balls to start the bottom of the 7th.
Make that four straight balls. And he’s on first.
"In the future, everyone will be a Nationals pitcher for 15 minutes" - Andy Warhol
— Mike Gianella (@MikeGianella) October 14, 2016
Dodgers 4-1 Nationals, top 7th
Justin Turner is on third. Adrian Gonzalez takes a strike and then hits one foul. He’s down 0-2. He then grounds out to second and this nightmare top of the 7th for the Nationals finally ends.
Dodgers 4-1 Nationals, top 7th
And Shawn Kelley is hurt. Oliver Perez comes in, THE SIXTH PITCHER OF THE INNING, and he’s going to get all the time he needs.
Updated
Justin Turner triples, driving in two runs! Dodgers 4-1 Nationals
Dodgers 4-1 Nationals, top 7th
And Baker DEFINITELY should not have made this pitching change. Turner hits a triple off of Shawn Kelley who was in to get the last out of the inning. Instead two runs score!
Barrett M. emails us with the opposing viewpoint:
I gotta say you’re dead wrong about the managerial shenanigans making the NL bad for baseball. The lack of them is why the AL is so incredibly boring to watch!
Fair enough: But can we at least agree that Dusty Baker making the decisions isn’t helping the case for?
Dodgers 2-1 Nationals, top 7th
Seager hits a routine fly for a second out. And the Nationals try to kill some time here before bringing in a new reliever. Because that’s what makes this game so fun, long stretches of time where nothing happens in-between non-stop pitching changes.
Carlos Ruiz singles, drives in a run! Dodgers 2-1 Nationals
Dodgers 2-1 Nationals, top 7th
Well, never mind my annoyance because the moves work out for Dave Robert and Ruiz hits a single and Barnes scores from second. Kendrick makes it to second. Dodgers take the lead and are in position to do some more damage.
Updated
Dodgers 1-1 Nationals, top 7th
Sammy Solis is out to pitch here. Clint Robinson is at first, taking Ryan Zimmerman out of the lineup for the Nationals. And Carlos Ruiz is replacing Chase Utley at the plate. So both teams have removed impact bats here, so everybody wins and loses at the same time.
Dodgers 1-1 Nationals, top 7th
And here’s double-switch time. Oh god. This inning is why the National League is bad for baseball
Dodgers 1-1 Nationals, top 7th
Austin Barnes is now pinch-running for Grandal and it’s Charlie Culberson, not Puig, pinch-hitting in this spot. Sure. He’s probably here to bunt.
Well he falls behind 0-2 in his attempt, so this may not be working as planned. So he’s going to swing away… no he’s going to bunt it foul! He’s out. What he heck was that?
Dodgers 1-1 Nationals, top 7th
Howie Kendrick is in to hit for the Dodgers. Blake Treinen is now here in to pitch for the Nationals. Grandal is at first and there’s nobody out.
Oh and Yasiel Puig is in the on-deck circle to hit for Urias.
Kendrick hits a broken-bat line drive and now it’s two on and nobody out for LA.
Dodgers 1-1 Nationals, top 7th
Marc (You Better Believe I Copied-And-Pasted This) Rzepczynski comes into the game, walks Grandal and immediately gets pulled for a different reliever.
This is going to be a long night everyone.
9/10. (Because only Bautista gets 10/10.)
Legendary bat disposal from Joc there pic.twitter.com/vxw15Are4h
— Kenny Ducey (@KennyDucey) October 14, 2016
Joc Pederson hits solo home run to tie game! Dodgers 1-1 Nationals
Dodgers 1-1 Nationals, top 7th
And that decision immediately looks even worse as the Dodgers tie the game as Joc Pederson hits a solo home run off of Scherzer!
And that will do it for Scherzer, Dusty Baker’s going for his bullpen. Well this one certainly changed super-quick.
Updated
Zimmerman gets a hit, Werth is thrown out at the plate! Game remains Dodgers 0- Nationals1
Dodgers 0-1 Nationals, bottom 6th
Zimmerman gets a hit! Werth is around second… he’s around third! He’s on his way home!!!
Wait why is he doing that, he’s going to be pretty obviously out at the plate? And he is.
Updated
Dodgers 0-1 Nationals, bottom 6th
And Rendon pops up to first. And it’s two down. This rally feels nearly squashed.
Dodgers 0-1 Nationals, bottom 6th
Murphy hits a line drive that Reddick completely misjudges but he manages to correct himself on the sly and make the catch. It ends up just being an out.
Dodgers 0-1 Nationals, bottom 6th
Urias is still in the game, facing Werth once again. I suppose this would be the time to address that there’s some talk whether or not he balked while trying to pick off Harper last inning. I am the absolute worst person ever on balk calls so I’m not going to get into it other than I’m going to assume that Harold Reynolds is always wrong so I’ll say no.
One thing that is indisputable is that Werth is now on first base after taking ball 4 in a full count. Solid at-bat there. (Or 1 and a third of an at-bat.)
Updated
Dodgers 0-1 Nationals, top 6th
Gonzalez with a sharp single. Reddick’s now up. He takes a strike on the outside corner. He then hits a shallow fly put away by Harper. That’s the sixth then.
Dodgers 0-1 Nationals, top 6th
Justin Turner takes on 1-1. 2-1. He takes again. That’s a strike 2-2. Turner swings on a… 98 mph fastball. Scherzer’s almost at 100 pitches, but he still had that.
That was strikeout number seven for him, btw.
Dodgers 0-1 Nationals, top 6th
Scherzer’s back out and he gets Seager to quickly pop out. He could use an easy inning here if he wants to stay in this for the long haul.
Dodgers 0-1 Nationals, bottom 5th
Urias is keeping his eye on Harper on the base paths. I’m of the opinion he should be focused on Jayson Werth. He keeps throwing to first base and…
HE’S OUT. HARPER’S TAGGED OUT! Maybe I should just shut up then.
Dodgers 0-1 Nationals, bottom 5th
Urias gets ahead 0-2 on Harper, who doesn’t chase on 0-2. 1-2. Harper hits a foul ball that eventually finds its way to the stands. Still 1-2. Urias’s next pitch… just outside. 2-2. Next pitch? Also outside. It’s now 3-2 on Harper. Interesting spot here for the young pitcher…
Who throws a fastball that’s too tall and Harper is on.
Dodgers 0-1 Nationals, bottom 5th
Turner hits a comebacker to Urias who rolls his ankle a bit on the landing, grimacing. His first warm up toss is way off but the second is apparently good enough for him to convince the Dodgers to keep him in the game to face Bryce Harper.
Dodgers 0-1 Nationals, bottom 5th
And here comes ridiculously young Julio Urias to relieve the um, ESTABLISHED VETERAN Joe Blanton. He strikes out Scherzer to start off the bottom of the 5th.
Dodgers 0-1 Nationals, top 5th
So, the bases are loaded for Utley who… is first ball swinging and he grounds out to short! Nationals fans erupt! Scherzer holds the line!
Dodgers 0-1 Nationals, top 5th
And here’s Andre Ethier hitting for Blanton. Ethier swings and misses at Scherzer’s first offering. 0-1. Ethier takes ball one. 1-1. Scherzer’s next pitch? Fouled back 1-2.
And he throws a ball, Ethier checks his swing. 2-2.
And his next pitch: Ethier swings and misses. That’s two down. Can he escape this?
Dodgers 0-1 Nationals, top 5th
Toles swings and misses out of the gate. 0-1. Toles swings again. 0-2. Pitcher’s spot up next, although I have to think Blanton’s not going to be hitting for himself.
TOLES hits a line-drive to second that Murphy can’t get and the bases are loaded!
Dodgers 0-1 Nationals, top 5th
Grandal takes a strike. Scherzer bounces the next pitch, Grandal doesn’t offer at that one, but he fouls off the next one. 1-2.
And a SWING AND A MISS. The Nationals fans really wanted that one.
Dodgers 0-1 Nationals, top 5th
Pederson promptly falls to 0-2… but hits a sharp base hit and that’s now runners on first and second with nobody out. The Dodgers have a threat, an actual factual threat, going on here.
Dodgers 0-1 Nationals, top 5th
Josh Reddick is up again, looking to get the first hit for the Nationals and he succeeds! He hits a single to start off the fifth inning.
Dodgers 0-1 Nationals, bottom 4th
And Lobaton flies out to center. As easy 1-2-3 season, the liveblogger grumbled.
Dodgers 0-1 Nationals, bottom 4th
Espinosa grounds out to Utley at second and Blanton is making me look churlish and foolish here. All sorts of ish-es.
Dodgers 0-1 Nationals, bottom 4th
And Blanton is still here for some reason.
YES I know that’s he’s been really, really good this season for the Dodgers. I don’t care. He’s still Joe Blanton, and the Dodgers have gone to him in lieu of Rich Hill.
He’s facing Zimmerman here. He gets ahead of Zimmerman 0-2. Zimmerman hits the next two pitches foul and then takes ball one. 1-2. He grounds out to first.
Email from Eben L.:
As a Giants fan I’m still heartbroken, but I think we can all get together behind the Nats for this one.
BEAT LA
True, there’s nothing like the continued postseason presence of your rivals to make it feel like your eliminated team’s season isn’t quite over.
Dodgers 0-1 Nationals, top 4th
After all that, Adrian Gonzalez promptly falls behind 0-2. Scherzer’s next pitch… taken for a ball. 1-2. And he swings and comes up empty! That’s that for the Dodgers this inning.
Dodgers 0-1 Nationals, top 4th
Justin Turner falls to 0-2, he also has some words for the umpire. Sorry man. Scherzer’s next pitch is way outside. Turner just gets a piece of the 1-2 offering. He checks his swing on the next pitch. 2-2. The crowd gets worked up once again to will a strikeout. No doing, Turner fouls the next pitch off into the stands. Still 2-2. Next pitch… also fouled off into the seats. Still 2-2. Some drama here.
A swing and another foul ball. Still 2-2. Yet another one fouled off. PERENNIALLY 2-2. Swing, a liner that’s just fouled. It feels like he’s about to get a hit here.
2-2. Turner takes a pitch. BALL THREE. Full count, gotta give Turner just for making Scherzer work.
Turner fouls off another one. Still 3-2. He takes… and it’s ball four! WHAT AN AT-BAT!
Dodgers 0-1 Nationals, top 4th
Seager works a full count, a rarity so far for hitters against Scherzer, who takes strike four. Seager doesn’t like the call, but with the way Scherzer is pitching today he’s gonna get that called a strike 100% of the time.
Dodgers 0-1 Nationals, top 4th
Scherzer is still in the game though. He’s here to face Utley. After getting to a 2-2 count, Scherzer gets him swinging for the first out.
Dodgers 0-1 Nationals, bottom 3rd
Rendon hits a ball really hard but right to centerfield where Pederson has it for out number three. I guess it worked out.
I guess.
Dodgers 0-1 Nationals, bottom 3rd
And here’s Joe Blanton.
You know what, I’m going to say going from Hill to JOE BLANTON in the third inning is just a bad move. Blanton gets ahead of the count 2-1, then swings at the next offering. 2-2. The next pitch? It’s outside and Murphy steals second on it.
Dodgers 0-1 Nationals, bottom 3rd
And here comes Dave Roberts? He’s already hitting the bullpen. Runners on first and third with two out and it will not be Rich Hill facing Anthony Rendon.
Dodgers 0-1 Nationals, bottom 3rd
So can Jayson make it Werth it?
I’m so so sorry for that pun, I’m sorry, I’m trying to remove it.
But he cannot. Werth strikes out for the second time tonight and that’s potentially a huge one. With two out, and Murphy an automatic single, the Dodgers give him an intentional pass.
Dodgers 0-1 Nationals, bottom 3rd
Harper flies out but it’s enough for Turner to get to third. He can now score on an out. Productive, I think they call that. (I’m a Red Sox fan and they never score in these situations, so I’m tempted to use air quotes around “productive.”)
Dodgers 0-1 Nationals, bottom 3rd
Harper at the plate. He take a strike. Hill seems at least as focused on Turner on first, throwing twice. Hill’s next pitch to Harper is a ball and Turner is off on the throw and he’s into second safely.
And Hill throws to second now.
Dodgers 0-1 Nationals, bottom 3rd
Trea Turner hits a solid single off of Hill, a hanging breaking ball. Turner’s very much a threat to run here. Let’s see if that’s a factor.
Updated
Dodgers 0-1 Nationals, top 3rd
And Rich Hill promptly grounds out. That’s about as quick as an inning you can have when you walk the leadoff man.
Dodgers 0-1 Nationals, top 3rd
So it’s Andrew Toles who promptly hits into a double-play. Scherzer has still faced the minimum.
Dodgers 0-1 Nationals, top 3rd
And here’s Yasmani Grandal, who takes four straight pitches outside the zone and becomes the first Dodgers baserunner.
Dodgers 0-1 Nationals, bottom 2nd
Scherzer hits a foul pop fly. 1-0. Hill’s next pitch is in the dirt. 1-1. Can Scherzer help his own cause here…
Nope, he takes a really bad swing at the next pitch and then takes a called strike and Hill escapes with allowing just the one run.
Updated
Dodgers 0-1 Nationals, bottom 2nd
Jose Lobaton is up. Dave Roberts already has his bullpen going, looks like it’s getting late early for Rich Hill. But Lobaton ends up striking out on a held foul tip.
So that’s now two outs and here’s the pitcher’s spot up for L.A..
Danny Espinosa singles, run scored! Dodgers 0-1 Nationals
Dodgers 0-1 Nationals, bottom 2nd
Danny Espinosa singles in Murphy. The throw to home is… not in time! And Zimmerman takes third base and there’s still only one out!
Updated
Dodgers 0-0 Nationals, bottom 2nd
Hill seems a bit shaken by Murphy on second. Hill goes to 3-0 here on Zimmerman and he’s not happy about the ball three call by the home plate umpire. He gets the call on the 3-0 pitch. But on 3-1 he walks Zimmerman. That’s now runners on first and second with just one out.
Dodgers 0-0 Nationals, bottom 2nd
Murphy’s on first. Anthony Rendon’s up to bat. Rich Hill gets ahead 1-2, but his next pitch is outside. 2-2.
But he gets a called strike 3.
Up next is Ryan Zimmerman who takes the first pitch which hits the dirt and Murphy takes off for second base and is there easily.
Updated
Dodgers 0-0 Nationals, bottom 2nd
Daniel Murphy swings at the first ball he sees and he gets the first hit of the game, because of course he does. It’s the postseason, it’s what he does.
It’s not too early for this, right?
Max Scherzer is on pace for a 135-pitch perfect game with five strikeouts.
— (((Jesse Spector))) (@jessespector) October 14, 2016
Dodgers 0-0 Nationals, top 2nd
Joc Pederson, he of the missing “k” in his first name, takes two balls then swing and misses at the next pitch he sees. And the next as well, a 97 fastball this time. Yipes. 2-2. Crowd gets up and tries to will a strikeout.
Peterson fouls the next pitch off instead. Still 2-2, he grounds out to Murphy who throws him out to end the inning.
Updated
Dodgers 0-0 Nationals, top 2nd
And up is Josh Reddick. The ghosts of Red Sox past here. He falls in a 0-2 hole. He takes the next two pitches, high fastballs both. Scherzer’s 2-2 pitch is down and in and gets away with him. 3-2. But Reddick swings and misses on a nasty slider to be Scherzer’s first strikeout victim.
Dodgers 0-0 Nationals, top 2nd
Is this going to be a pitcher’s duel?
Hahaha. No, no. Have you paid attention to the playoffs this year, those aren’t happening. But so far so good for both starters.
And Scherzer gets Adrian Gonazlez to fly out to start the second. So his good start continues.
Dodgers 0-0 Nationals, bottom 1st
Hill gets Jayson Werth (and his beard) to 2-2. Werth fouls the next pitch off. Still 2-2. Hill’s next pitch: a fastball around the hands that Werth swings through. That’s his second straight strikeout and the end of the first inning.
Dodgers 0-0 Nationals, bottom 1st
Hill, of course, has had injury issues this season, so this might be something to monitor for L.A. Hill’s first pitch to Bryce Harper is a ball, and Harper swings over two straight curveballs and falls to 1-2.
And the next ball is just there on the corner for strike three and Harper is out just like that.
Dodgers 0-0 Nationals, bottom 1st
Trea Turner starts off the inning for the Nationals, he takes two straight balls from Rich Hill before taking his first strike. He then swings at the next HIll offering. 2-2. The next pitch is… just outside. 3-2 count on Turner who hits one right back to Hill, who tosses to first for the out.
And it looks like that might have got Hill, the Dodgers brass are immediately out to check it out. Hill throws two warm up pitches and tells manager Dave Roberts that he’s okay.
Dodgers 0-0 Nationals, top 1st
Scherzer gets Justin Turner to a 2-2 count. He’s looking for a k here and he… calls time. On his 2-2 pitch, Turner grounds out to Danny Espinosa for out number three. A clean first inning for Scherzer.
Dodgers 0-0 Nationals, top 1st
Scherzer gets ahead of Corey Seager, 1-2. The crowd gets loud, if they weren’t ready before, Turner’s catch has got them pumped. Scherzer’s next two pitches are outside, on the next pitch Seager takes a swing and bounces out to Daniel Murphy at second.
Dodgers 0-0 Nationals, top 1st
Scherzer falls behind Utley 2-1, but Utley swings and coms up empty. On the next pitch he hits what looks like it’s going to drop for a hit but Trea Turner somehow manages to track it down and make a spectacular catch! It’s an out, somehow!
First pitch!
Dodgers 0-0 Nationals, top 1st
Max Scherzer throws a pitch to Chase Utley. It’s a strike! Game 5 is officially on!
Have to think he’d be good for at least 30-40 more out of the bullpen, if need be.
Livan Hernandez tosses the first pitch for the #Nats pic.twitter.com/LrPnEckSER
— ESPN 980 (@espn980) October 14, 2016
Also the Nationals legends... uh, not exactly as vintage as some of the other teams.
Washington Nationals starting lineup
1. Trea Turner, CF
2. Bryce Harper, RF
3. Jayson Werth, LF
4. Daniel Murphy, 2B
5. Anthony Rendon 3B
6. Ryan Zimmerman, 1B
7. Danny Espinosa, SS
8. Jose Lobaton, C
9. Max Scherzer, P
Dodgers Starting Lineup
1. Chase Utley, 2B
2. Corey Seager, SS
3. Justin Turner, 3B
4. Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
5. Josh Reddick, RF
6. Joc Pederson, CF
7. Yasmani Grandal, C
8. Andrew Toles, LF
9. Rich Hill, P
Updated
Predictions
I have no idea? See, in some ways you’re lucky to be getting my thoughts on this particular season because I’m completely neutral as I am utterly indifferent to which teams wins this series.
The Nationals are at-home and have their ace on the mound with Scherzer, so I’m going to say that given everything we’ve seen in the postseason in so far, that somehow works against them. The stars are aligned for inexplicable heartbreak, so I have the Dodgers winning this because it’s the slightly crueler outcome.Your prediction? Tweet us at @HunterFelt or email us at Hunter.Felt@theguardian.com.
Updated
Elsewhere around the MLB
Everything is all set in the American League. The Cleveland Indians swept the Boston Red Sox, rather abruptly ending the career of David Ortiz (yes I had some words about him, almost all of them family-friendly, as you can see below). The Indians will be facing the Toronto Blue Jays, who dashed the hopes of the Texas Rangers even quicker. Game 1 of the ALCS will be tomorrow night at 8p EST. Corey Kluber will be starting that game for Cleveland, Marco Estrada for Toronto.
Hello and welcome
Welcome to Game 5 of the National League Divisional Series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Washington Nationals at Nationals Stadium. The season all comes down to the Dodgers’ Rich Hill and the Nationals’ Max Scherzer. Okay, that will probably end up not being true, given what we’ve seen so far in the playoffs, it’s way more likely that this will come down to the bullpens.
The winner of today’s game will go on to face the Chicago Cubs in the National League Championship Series as the San Francisco Giants’ Even Year B.S. turned out to be no match to the equally powerful San Francisco Giants’ 9th inning bullpen disaster as Chicago rallied back from a three-run deficit to eliminate the Giants 6-5 on Tuesday night.
The Dodgers however, managed to survive their own bullpen collapse in Game 4, courtesy of Chase Utley’s run-scoring single in the bottom of the 8th which made today’s game necessary.
I’m super-excited for this, these baseball live-blogs are always the most fun part of the year. Hopefully you’ll join along with me as well, just tweet @HunterFelt or email Hunter.Felt@theguardian.com to contribute and we’ll use your contributions as we go along. It’s the Los Angeles Dodgers vs the Washington Nationals in Game 5 of the NLDS! We’re scheduled to start short after 8pm EST, but we’ll be back before then.
Updated
Hunter will be here shortly. In the meantime, read why Boston is a changed city following the retirement of David Ortiz:
If Ortiz is treated differently in Boston, it’s because he’s become something more than an athlete. The Minnesota Twins castaway, who started his Boston career as Jeremy Giambi’s backup, became a symbol of hope, the catalyst for a turnaround that literally changed the mindset of an entire fan base, an entire city. Red Sox fan Vinnie P neatly summed up this difference on Twitter last night: “My dad always told me Red Sox would lose, somehow, someway. I always tell my kids the Sox have a chance. David Ortiz did that for Boston.”
And Ortiz’s legacy isn’t confined to baseball. For many of us here in Boston, Ortiz’s most memorable moment had nothing to do with crushing home runs or humiliating the Yankees. On 20 April 2013, in the first game at Fenway Park after the Boston Marathon bombings rattled the city, Ortiz addressed the crowd: “This jersey that we wear today. It doesn’t say Red Sox, it says Boston. This is our fucking city, and nobody gonna dictate our freedom.”
