- Admin
- #1
The 2016 Major League Baseball postseason is officially insane. We’ve only experienced the wild-card round and the Division Series, but it feels like there have already been some instant classics.
One*wild-card game ended on a walk-off home run by Edwin Encarnacion, the other featured a historic performance by Madison Bumgarner. In the Division Series, we saw a walk-off slide push the Toronto Blue Jays forward, some incredible bullpen management by Terry Francona and a dramatic ninth-inning comeback that inched the Chicago Cubs one step closer to breaking their 108-year drought.
Despite all that, Game 5 of the National League Division Series between the Washington Nationals and the Los Angeles Dodgers was the wildest of them all. Here are five reasons why Thursday’s game was the most insane contest we’ve seen thus*during this action-packed postseason.
Jayson Werth was easily thrown out at the plate in the sixth inning. (Getty Images/Patrick Smith) THE TERRIBLE SEND FROM THIRD
With two outs in the bottom of the sixth inning, the entire game suddenly changed. Up to that point, the prevailing narrative was Max Scherzer’s excellent start. The Nationals had scored just one run, but Scherzer had kept the Dodgers off the the board for six innings.
In the bottom of the sixth, Washington had a chance to give Scherzer a bigger cushion. Outfielder Jayson Werth led things off with a walk, putting the team in business early. After two quick outs, Werth was still sitting at first. That’s when Ryan Zimmerman slapped 78 mph curveball to left field for a double.
Werth made it to third easily or, at least, he would have had he stopped there. Third base coach Bob Henley decided to wave Werth around. The Nationals were going to try and widen the lead.
It was an awful decision. Left fielder Andrew Toles was able to get the ball back to shortstop Corey Seager as Werth was passing third. Seager easily threw out Werth by 20 feet. The inexplicable send ended the sixth inning, but the fun was just beginning.
Joc Pederson was fired up after his game-tying home run. (Getty Images/Rob Carr) THE JOC PEDERSON HOME RUN
Remember that terrible sixth inning send we just discussed. Yeah, that played a huge role in the seventh. Scherzer returned to the mound to start the frame, and promptly gave up a game-tying home run to Joc Pederson on the first pitch.*The fact that it came just minutes after Werth was easily thrown out seemed to take the sails out of Nationals Park.
In the Nationals’ defense, scoring wasn’t guaranteed had Werth stayed at third in the top of the inning. The club would have had men in scoring position with two outs and Danny Espinosa at the plate. While Espinosa had come through earlier in the game with an RBI single, he*was 1-for-11 coming into the contest.
Still, you put these two plays together and it conveniently creates a turning point narrative for Los Angeles.
Dusty Baker went to the mound quite a bit during the seventh inning. (Getty Images/Patrick Smith) THE SEVENTH INNING FROM HELL
The Pederson home run was the start of one of the most insane innings we’ve ever seen.*With the game tied, Dusty Baker went to his bullpen. It proved to be an awful decision.*Five different Nationals relievers entered during the inning, and none of them could get the job done.
Marc Rzepczynski gave up a walk and was pulled. Blake Treinen allowed a single, picked up a strikeout and departed. Sammy Solis gave up the go-ahead single to Carlos Ruiz. He then managed to get Corey Seager to fly out. Then, he was gone.
That brought in Shawn Kelley with two outs and two men on base. He promptly gave up a triple to Justin Turner that pushed the Dodgers’ lead to 4-1. Kelley left with an injury and was replaced by Oliver Perez. Perez mercifully was able to get out of the inning.
That was just on the Nationals’ side, by the way. Dave Roberts used three different pinch-hitters and a pinch-runner in the top half of the inning. He somehow used all three of his catchers.
The bottom of the inning was nearly as eventful. The Nationals quickly battled back, scoring two runs on a home run from Chris Heisey. Heisey was, you guessed it, a pinch-hitter. After a Clint Robinson single, Baker used pitcher Joe Ross as a pinch-runner. It had officially turned into the inning of substitutions. Both managers seemed eager to completely empty their rosters.
Kenley Jansen gave the Dodgers everything he had in Game 5 of the NLDS. (Getty Images/Rob Carr) KENLEY JANSEN’S HERCULEAN PERFORMANCE
With the Nationals threatening in the seventh (yep, we’re still in the seventh), Roberts turned to his closer. Kenley Jansen entered the game with a one-run lead, and it certainly looked like he would remain in for the nine-out save.
Jansen wound up in a bases-loaded situation in the seventh, but managed to strike out Anthony Rendon on four pitches to end the threat. He would return for the eighth, and was able to work around a leadoff walk without allowing any runs.
With Jansen already at 37 pitches, Roberts stuck with him in the ninth.*After striking out Trea Turner to open the inning, Jansen started to look fatigued. He was pulled after issuing back-to-back walks to*Bryce Harper and Werth. Jansen gave up one hit and walked four over 2 1/3 scoreless innings. He notched four strikeouts and threw an incredible 51 pitches.
In a postseason dominated to bullpen usage, we once again saw a manager go to his best option early and come away with a win.
Clayton Kershaw killed the “can’t pitch in the postseason” narrative in Game 5. (Getty Images/Patrick Smith) CLAYTON FREAKING KERSHAW
Jansen, of course, didn’t actually shut the door. That honor belonged to Clayton Kershaw. Amazingly, Roberts summoned Kershaw with two men on base in the bottom of the ninth. The 28-year-old ace had to get two outs in order to send the Dodgers to the National League Championship Series. Roberts did this despite the fact that he said there was absolutely no way Kershaw would pitch in Game 5 prior to the contest.
For a few glorious minutes, every narrative was in place. Kershaw is undoubtedly the best pitcher in baseball during the regular season, but some have questioned his ability in October. While Kershaw’s numbers are worse in the postseason, it’s a small sample, and some of those games have been marred by terrible bullpens skewing his stat line. Still, even if you agreed with Roberts’ decision, it was easy to see how Kershaw was being put in an impossible spot. If he gave up one hit, he would once again be seen as a guy who comes up short in big moments.
This was the night the narrative died, though. Kershaw induced a weak pop up from Daniel Murphy who, up to that point, had been unstoppable during the series. He then struck out Wilmer Difo on a nasty curveball to officially send the Dodgers to the NLCS.
IN CONCLUSION
For fans with no rooting interest, this one was incredibly stressful. We can’t imagine what is like for fans of the Dodgers or the Nationals. We are tempted to buy all of them a stiff drink, or at least a carbonated beverage, just for surviving.
But wait, there’s more! We still have two Champion Series to go and a World Series matchup that will feature four franchises that haven’t won in over 20 years. One of those teams hasn’t won in over 100 years.
There’s a lot of baseball left to be played, is what we’re saying. We hope our hearts can handle it.
More MLB coverage from Yahoo Sports:
One*wild-card game ended on a walk-off home run by Edwin Encarnacion, the other featured a historic performance by Madison Bumgarner. In the Division Series, we saw a walk-off slide push the Toronto Blue Jays forward, some incredible bullpen management by Terry Francona and a dramatic ninth-inning comeback that inched the Chicago Cubs one step closer to breaking their 108-year drought.
Despite all that, Game 5 of the National League Division Series between the Washington Nationals and the Los Angeles Dodgers was the wildest of them all. Here are five reasons why Thursday’s game was the most insane contest we’ve seen thus*during this action-packed postseason.
With two outs in the bottom of the sixth inning, the entire game suddenly changed. Up to that point, the prevailing narrative was Max Scherzer’s excellent start. The Nationals had scored just one run, but Scherzer had kept the Dodgers off the the board for six innings.
In the bottom of the sixth, Washington had a chance to give Scherzer a bigger cushion. Outfielder Jayson Werth led things off with a walk, putting the team in business early. After two quick outs, Werth was still sitting at first. That’s when Ryan Zimmerman slapped 78 mph curveball to left field for a double.
Werth made it to third easily or, at least, he would have had he stopped there. Third base coach Bob Henley decided to wave Werth around. The Nationals were going to try and widen the lead.
It was an awful decision. Left fielder Andrew Toles was able to get the ball back to shortstop Corey Seager as Werth was passing third. Seager easily threw out Werth by 20 feet. The inexplicable send ended the sixth inning, but the fun was just beginning.
Remember that terrible sixth inning send we just discussed. Yeah, that played a huge role in the seventh. Scherzer returned to the mound to start the frame, and promptly gave up a game-tying home run to Joc Pederson on the first pitch.*The fact that it came just minutes after Werth was easily thrown out seemed to take the sails out of Nationals Park.
In the Nationals’ defense, scoring wasn’t guaranteed had Werth stayed at third in the top of the inning. The club would have had men in scoring position with two outs and Danny Espinosa at the plate. While Espinosa had come through earlier in the game with an RBI single, he*was 1-for-11 coming into the contest.
Still, you put these two plays together and it conveniently creates a turning point narrative for Los Angeles.
The Pederson home run was the start of one of the most insane innings we’ve ever seen.*With the game tied, Dusty Baker went to his bullpen. It proved to be an awful decision.*Five different Nationals relievers entered during the inning, and none of them could get the job done.
Marc Rzepczynski gave up a walk and was pulled. Blake Treinen allowed a single, picked up a strikeout and departed. Sammy Solis gave up the go-ahead single to Carlos Ruiz. He then managed to get Corey Seager to fly out. Then, he was gone.
That brought in Shawn Kelley with two outs and two men on base. He promptly gave up a triple to Justin Turner that pushed the Dodgers’ lead to 4-1. Kelley left with an injury and was replaced by Oliver Perez. Perez mercifully was able to get out of the inning.
That was just on the Nationals’ side, by the way. Dave Roberts used three different pinch-hitters and a pinch-runner in the top half of the inning. He somehow used all three of his catchers.
The bottom of the inning was nearly as eventful. The Nationals quickly battled back, scoring two runs on a home run from Chris Heisey. Heisey was, you guessed it, a pinch-hitter. After a Clint Robinson single, Baker used pitcher Joe Ross as a pinch-runner. It had officially turned into the inning of substitutions. Both managers seemed eager to completely empty their rosters.
With the Nationals threatening in the seventh (yep, we’re still in the seventh), Roberts turned to his closer. Kenley Jansen entered the game with a one-run lead, and it certainly looked like he would remain in for the nine-out save.
Jansen wound up in a bases-loaded situation in the seventh, but managed to strike out Anthony Rendon on four pitches to end the threat. He would return for the eighth, and was able to work around a leadoff walk without allowing any runs.
With Jansen already at 37 pitches, Roberts stuck with him in the ninth.*After striking out Trea Turner to open the inning, Jansen started to look fatigued. He was pulled after issuing back-to-back walks to*Bryce Harper and Werth. Jansen gave up one hit and walked four over 2 1/3 scoreless innings. He notched four strikeouts and threw an incredible 51 pitches.
In a postseason dominated to bullpen usage, we once again saw a manager go to his best option early and come away with a win.
Jansen, of course, didn’t actually shut the door. That honor belonged to Clayton Kershaw. Amazingly, Roberts summoned Kershaw with two men on base in the bottom of the ninth. The 28-year-old ace had to get two outs in order to send the Dodgers to the National League Championship Series. Roberts did this despite the fact that he said there was absolutely no way Kershaw would pitch in Game 5 prior to the contest.
For a few glorious minutes, every narrative was in place. Kershaw is undoubtedly the best pitcher in baseball during the regular season, but some have questioned his ability in October. While Kershaw’s numbers are worse in the postseason, it’s a small sample, and some of those games have been marred by terrible bullpens skewing his stat line. Still, even if you agreed with Roberts’ decision, it was easy to see how Kershaw was being put in an impossible spot. If he gave up one hit, he would once again be seen as a guy who comes up short in big moments.
This was the night the narrative died, though. Kershaw induced a weak pop up from Daniel Murphy who, up to that point, had been unstoppable during the series. He then struck out Wilmer Difo on a nasty curveball to officially send the Dodgers to the NLCS.
IN CONCLUSION
For fans with no rooting interest, this one was incredibly stressful. We can’t imagine what is like for fans of the Dodgers or the Nationals. We are tempted to buy all of them a stiff drink, or at least a carbonated beverage, just for surviving.
But wait, there’s more! We still have two Champion Series to go and a World Series matchup that will feature four franchises that haven’t won in over 20 years. One of those teams hasn’t won in over 100 years.
There’s a lot of baseball left to be played, is what we’re saying. We hope our hearts can handle it.
More MLB coverage from Yahoo Sports:
– – – – – – –
Chris Cwik is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Chris_Cwik