Let's Get Wild

Owen and I have gone to a lot of Nats playoff games over the years, and there have been plenty of highs -- like Jayson Werth's game-winning season-saving walk-off home run in game 4 of the 2012 NLDS, or umm...okay maybe that was the only real playoff high so far. But there really have been plenty of lows: like the soul crushing loss to the Cardinals in game 5 of the 2012 NLDS; or the 18 inning loss to the Giants in game 2 of the 2014 NLDS; or the heart wrenching loss to the Dodgers in game 5 of the 2016 NLDS; or the astronomically improbable meltdowns in the curse confirming loss to the Cubs in game 5 of the 2017 NLDS.

This year is different though. The Nats didn't win the division, so we started off the playoffs with a new way to potentially lose, the one-game crapshoot that is the Wild Card. After a dismal 19-31 start to the season, the Nats had turned it around and played like the best team in baseball -- winning 93 games and even finishing the season with 8 straight wins. Our future Hall-of-Famer, Max Scherzer, was starting against the Brewers and we were feeling good. His fastball was amped up to 99 MPH for the first pitch of the game and the crowd was already rocking. Problem was, that fastball was a bit outside, and Max walked the first batter, then quickly gave up a 2-run home run to the second batter, briefly settled down, then gave up another homer to lead off the second. Trea Turner hit a solo-shot in the bottom of the third, and Scherzer really did settle down after that, not giving up any more runs through the 5th, but the crowd was tense. Then Stephen Strasburg came on in relief and pitched three brilliant scoreless innings to keep us in the game.

But the real drama started in the bottom of the 8th. Michael A. Taylor was hit by a pitch, Ryan Zimmerman hit a broken bat bloop single, and Anthony Rendon walked to bring up the 20 year-old phenom Juan Soto with two outs. Soto delivered a line drive to the right field and the crowd exploded as Taylor and Zim rounded the bases. Then the ball hopped over the right fielder's glove and rolled to the wall allowing Rendon to score the go-ahead run all the way from first as the crowd turned it up to 11. Owen and I were screaming and hugging and jumping up in down in the stands as Soto was tagged out trying for third. We had the lead going into the 9th in a winner-take-all elimination game, and Daniel Hudson took the mound. He struck out the first batter, but then gave up a line drive single to center. The next batter popped out to Kurt Suzuki behind the plate and we were one out away from advancing. Surely this is where things fall apart, but no: when the last batter hit a fly ball to deep center, Victor Robles gathered himself under the ball and made the catch to secure the win.

As Owen and I walked out of the stadium, basking in the glow of victory, he said it was the best baseball game he'd ever been to, maybe even better than the Jayson Werth walk-off way back in 2012. Maybe this year really is different. Bring on the Dodgers!!!