Nationals Clinch Postseason Berth
At long last, the Washington Nationals can catch their breath as they officially punched their ticket into the 2019 postseason. With the combination of a double-header win over the Philadelphia Phillies and a Chicago Cubs loss, the Nationals punched their fifth postseason appearance since 2012.
An Ominous Start
Through the first part of the season, it was a rather inauspicious start for the Nationals. The team stumbled out of the gate with a 19-31 record through the first 50 games. In fact, that poor start had them 12 games below .500 on May 23 with not a lot of hope in the post-Bryce Harper era.
It was at that point that the Nationals were fourth in the National League East which put them eight and a half games out of the postseason picture. They were 19th or worse in RBI (193), slugging (.405), and OPS (.722). They were also wielded a 4.88 ERA which was seventh-worst at the time.
The Big Turn Around
Since that dreadful start through 50 games, the Nats proceeded to go 69-38. That record was the best in the major leagues during that stretch. A big reason for the marked improvement came from the mound as Patrick Corbin, Max Scherzer, and Stephen Strasburg has averaged over one strikeout per inning each. They have helped a Nationals rotation stay up near the top ten in strikeouts per nine innings.
On the offensive side of things, the Nationals have the sixth most RBI in baseball since late May. They’ve also ranked sixth or better in slugging (.474) and OPS (.827). A catalyst for the offense has been third-basemen Anthony Rendon who has rattled off a .325 batting average with 122 RBI, 34 home runs, and a 1.020 OPS.
The Clinching Games
After dashing the hopes of the Phillies in game one of the double-header, the Nationals simply needed another win and a Cubs loss. They got both in dramatic fashion. It wasn’t the dominant Max Scherzer we’re used to seeing giving up four runs on five hits. But he still had a ten strikeout performance through six innings.
What sparked the win initially was a grand-slam home run by Trea Turner in the sixth inning. It wasn’t all breezy from there though as Bryce Harper wouldn’t let the Nationals go that easily and deposited his 34th home run of the season to cut the late lead 6-5.
From there, however, the Nationals bullpen came through and shut the door, thus preserving the lead and the win. While that was going on, the Cubs contest was on the big screen as the team awaited their potential fate.
Going Forward
The Nationals are looking to advance past the first round of the postseason since moving from Montreal in 2004. Their first test towards a World Series run begins on Tuesday, Oct. 1 which will likely be against the Milwaukee Brewers.
