The San Francisco Giants have advanced to the NLCS, beating the Washington Nationals in four games on Tuesday night by the score of 3-2. This is their third trip in five years, having won the World Series in both 2010 and 2012. They will now face the St. Louis Cardinals in St. Louis on Saturday in a best of seven series for the National League Pennant.
The #SFGiants win and are headed to the NLCS! #OctoberTogether #OrangeOctober #ONToTheNext1 pic.twitter.com/ixoV1KXitC
— #OctoberTogether (@SFGiants) October 8, 2014
With their backs against the wall, the Nationals made it a close game in hopes of forcing the only game five of the postseason thus far. Through the first five innings, the Giants were sailing with a 2-0 lead, thanks to a bases loaded walk by Gio Gonzalez and ground out RBI by Joe Panik in the bottom of the second inning. Bryce Harper continued his hot hitting, lacing an RBI double in the top of the fifth inning, scoring Ian Desmond from first base to make it a 2-1 game.
It wasn’t until the top of the seventh inning until Harper smashed a towering home run off of Hunter Strickland, sending the ball splashing into McCovey Cove. In typical Bryce Harper fashion, he rounded the bases while staring down the pitcher as if the home run wasn’t enough of a statement. The game was tied at two until the pivotal bottom half of the inning, when things got interesting.
Joe Panik and Buster Posey both hit singles with one out bringing up Hunter Pence to the plate. Nationals Manager Matt Williams then made the move to put in rookie Aaron Barrett which proved to be the deciding factor of the game. Barrett ended up walking Pence to load the bases for Pablo Sandoval who was 1-12 with the bases loaded during the regular season.
On the 2-1 count to Sandoval, Barrett threw the pitch away to the backstop which allowed Panik to score from third and advanced runners to second and third with only one out. On the 3-1 count while attempting to intentionally walk Sandoval, the ball got away from him yet again, sending the ball soaring over Wilson Ramos’ head. Buster Posey raced home but got there late as Barrett tagged him out on the slide. However, the call wouldn’t come without controversy as Barrett was said to be blocking the plate but caught the ball as he stepped on home. Posey was clearly out after reviewed calls proved he was tagged before his foot touched the plate and the out was confirmed as this was a crucial moment for the Nationals. The Giants could not score any more runs, but the 3-2 score ended up being all they needed to take the win.
With the Giants heading to St. Louis for game one, we will see a rematch of the 2012 NLCS, in which the Giants won four games to three after a remarkable comeback forcing a game seven and ultimately moving on to win the World Series. This will not be an easy series for either team, as both have proved they belong there and have shown much resilience in the playoffs. Look for this to be another tight match-up between two of the best teams in the National League.
Photo Credit: Kelley L Cox-US PRESSWIRE