Now that the Washington Nationals have survived the one-and-done round, they face the daunting but not impossible task of beating the Los Angeles Dodgers in a best-of-five series that begins at Dodger Stadium Oct. 3.
Most experts were fine with Nationals manager Davey Martinez's decision to start Max Scherzer, his ace starter, in the winner-take-all matchup against the undermanned Milwaukee Brewers. There was just one little problem with the decision: right-hander Stephen Strasburg's ERA during his past eight starts was 1.74, whereas Scherzer had a 4.74 ERA in his seven starts since coming back from the injured list (back strain).
Martinez rolled the dice with his -- when healthy -- No. 1 starter. Scherzer was jumped on to the tune of three earned runs on two homers in his first two innings. He settled down and pitched three innings of shutout ball before Strasberg was brought in to pitch three shutout innings of his own. Buoyed by Strasberg's flawless three-inning stint, the Nats were able to somehow push across three runs against lefty relief ace Josh Hader and escape narrowly with the 4-3 win.
