Your WASHINGTON NATIONALS Are Playoff Bound
The Washington Nationals made history tonight. For the first time since October 7, 1933, a Washington, DC pro baseball franchise will enter the Major League Baseball playoffs. With the win over the LA Dodgers tonight, the Nationals have clinched at least a wild card playoff berth. With the Atlanta Braves off tonight, the win also lowered the Nats magic number to 8 for the clinching of the National League East division title.
Ross Detwiler pitched 6 solid innings, scattering 6 hits and allowing 1 run while fanning 5 Dodgers. Detwiler became the fourth Nats pitcher to reach double digit wins, improving to 10-6 on the season. Christian Garcia pitched an impressive seventh inning, fanning two Dodgers to lower his ERA to 1.29 in 7 total innings. Ryan Mattheus pitched a scoreless 8th inning. Drew Storen pitched a scoreless ninth inning, striking out the side and sealing the Nationals fate.
Washington got on the score board first in the third inning with an RBI double by Ryan Zimmerman that scored Bryce Harper. Later in the inning, Zimmerman would score on a wild pitch by Chris Capuano to give the Nats a 2-0 lead. After the Dodgers got a solo home run from Mark Ellis, the Nats responded with two more runs in the fourth inning. Danny Espinoza doubled in Ian Desmond to put the Nats up 3-1. Kurt Suzuki would later sacrifice in Espinosa to give the Nats the fourth run. Jayson Werth was 2-3 on the night with two stolen bases. He raised his batting average to .300. On a birthday night, Ian Desmond went 2-2 with a run and a stolen base.
The Nats will now turn their attention to securing their first National League East title since moving to DC in 2005.
