Early Saturday evening, the ferocity of the St. Louis Cardinals’ bullpen forced Jayson Werth to reconsider the complexion of building a pitching staff. Ever since the Washington Nationals succumbed to them in the 2012 playoffs, Werth had been awed by how many flame-throwers the Cardinals possessed.
“I don’t remember the last time I faced two guys throwing 99,” Werth said. “That’s kind of the way the game’s going these days. It seems like everybody’s bringing up kids that throw hard, putting them in the back of the [bull]pen.”
Faced with a customary deficit Sunday afternoon, the Nationals forced a series split when they clawed back against the mighty backend of the Cardinals’ bullpen, a 3-2 comeback victory that Denard Span completed with a walk-off sacrifice fly against Seth Maness that scored Danny Espinosa.
The Nationals set up the dogpile on Span with two runs in the seventh off hard-throwing Carlos Martinez, salvaging Stephen Strasburg’s six-inning, two-run, nine-strikeout start and giving meaning to a dominant relief performance of their own.
Espinosa sparked the Nationals’ game-winning rally with a single through third baseman Matt Carpenter’s legs, his third hit of the day and fourth time on base. Jose Lobaton rolled a single through the right side, which sent Espinosa to third, 90 feet away from winning the game with one out.
Manager Matt Williams tabbed McLouth, 2 for 27 on the year, as his pinch hitter. McLouth spit on Maness’s 3-2 pitch just off the outside corner. Cardinals Manager Mike Matheny called in left fielder Allen Craig to form a five-man infield against Span.
Span stayed alive when he nicked a 1-2 change-up off his foot. Three pitches later, after he fouled another pitch and took a close one over the inside corner, Span lofted a ball over all five infielders to left. Jon Jay caught the ball, spun and had no chance.
Before Friday night, the Nationals had lost eight consecutive games to the Cardinals. They have since won two out of three, helping to stymie their struggles against elite opponents.
The Nationals went 0 for 7 with runners in scoring and left 11 men on base in the first six innings. In the seventh, they broke through with a torrent of loud contact against one of the most menacing set-up relievers in baseball.
Martinez fires 98-mph seeds, but the Nationals scalded them, anyway. Adam LaRoche sparked the rally with a liner that nearly decapitated Martinez. Anthony Rendon smoked another single to center. Ian Desmond ripped a two-hopper of second baseman Daniel Descalso’s glove, which scored LaRoche.
With the rally in full swing, Espinosa came to the plate. On Saturday, he had blasted his first big league home run since May 2013. Earlier in the game, he had ripped a single and drawn a walk. Martinez threw him a 98-mph fastball, and Espinosa’s easy swing turned it around, sending a laser into right to the tie game.
The Cardinals struck first against Strasburg. First baseman Matt Adams led off the second inning with a double and he moved to third when Yadier Molina poked a single to right. Strasburg minimized further damage with a 6-4-3 double play ball, but Adams scooted home.
Strasburg’s breaking pitches, even though he did not use his new slider, were diabolical. He relied on a change-up that darted inside to right-handed hitters, who swung at some that nearly hit their back foot, and broke away from lefties. He made hitters chase curveballs in the dirt. The location of his fastball, which doomed him in his last start, improved. The Cardinals had made contact on 83.6 percent of their swings this season, tops in the National League. Strasburg induced swing-and-misses in six innings Sunday.
Strasburg was operating at the height of his powers as Peter Bourjos, St. Louis’s light-hitting No. 8 hitter, came to the plate in the sixth inning. Strasburg had struck out four consecutive hitters and retired nine in a row overall but walked Bourjos with a 3-2 change-up, which brought pitcher Shelby Miller to the plate. Strasburg fired a 92-mph fastball over the heart of the plate, which Miller treated like batting practice. He whacked a double to left-center to give the Cardinals their second run.
In the third, the Nationals loaded the bases with three walks, starting with Strasburg’s eight-pitch battle. LaRoche whiffed at a 96-mph fastball, and as he followed through he lost the grip on his bat, which flew into the backstop.
The Nationals had made Miller expend 32 pitches in one inning, but they had yet to notch their first hit. That came in the fourth inning, when Espinosa and Lobaton lashed consecutive two-out singles. Strasburg couldn’t extend the rally, but on the way to a strikeout he taxed Miller for seven more pitches.
They would force Miller out of the game in sixth, but the missed chances kept coming. The Nationals loaded the bases with one out in the sixth when third baseman Matt Carpenter booted Zach Walters’s grounder. Facing sidewinding left-hander Randy Choate, Span hit into a fielder’s choice.