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Washington Nationals: Three Takeaways From NLDS Game 5

Oct 13, 2016; Washington, DC, USA;Washington Nationals starting pitcher Max Scherzer (31) is taken out of the game during the seventh inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers during game five of the 2016 NLDS playoff baseball game at Nationals Park. Mandatory Credit: Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 13, 2016; Washington, DC, USA;Washington Nationals starting pitcher Max Scherzer (31) is taken out of the game during the seventh inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers during game five of the 2016 NLDS playoff baseball game at Nationals Park. Mandatory Credit: Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports
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Washington Nationals
Oct 13, 2016; Washington, DC, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers center fielder Joc Pederson (31) celebrates with third base coach Chris Woodward (45) after hitting a solo home run during the seventh inning against the Washington Nationals during game five of the 2016 NLDS playoff baseball game at Nationals Park. Mandatory Credit: Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports

This morning, we give you our three takeaways from last night’s Washington Nationals Game 5 NLDS loss against the Dodgers

It was another heartbreaking postseason loss for the Washington Nationals last night. The four-run seventh inning the Dodgers had ended up being enough as Los Angeles won the game 4-3 and will be heading to Chicago to begin the NLCS on Saturday.

When you look back at this game, the Washington Nationals will regret not taking advantage of their chances with runners in scoring position. The offense went 1-for-10 with men in scoring position and stranded 11 runners on base.

The biggest mistake of the game came in the sixth inning when third base coach Bob Henley sending Jayson Werth home on a double by Ryan Zimmerman in the sixth. Werth was thrown out by a mile at the plate and the game seemed to flip from there.

Max Scherzer gave the Washington Nationals six strong shutout innings.But, Joc Pederson led off the seventh inning with a game tying home run to left field. Against the Nats bullpen, the Dodgers got clutch RBI hits from Carlos Ruiz and Justin Turner to take a 4-1 lead.

While the Washington Nationals showed a lot of fight when Chris Heisey hit the two-run home run in the seventh, they were unable to get one more run against the duo of Kenley Jansen and Clayton Kershaw, who ended up getting the save by getting Daniel Murphy to pop out and Wilmer Difo to strike out swinging.

Before we look ahead to the offseason, here were my three takeaways from last night’s wild 4-3 loss:

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