Washington Nationals: Clutch home runs keep NLDS hopes alive

The Washington Nationals offense exploded for five runs in the bottom of the eighth to keep their NLDS hopes alive and tie the series at one

For seven innings last night, the Washington Nationals were still looking for answers on offense. They had only scored three runs in the first 16 innings and were staring an 0-2 deficit heading to Wrigley Field straight in the face. Then, the fun happened.

In the bottom off the eighth, Bryce Harper and Ryan Zimmerman came up with clutch home runs. Harper tied the game with a two-run moon shot against Carl Edwards Jr. Three batters later, it was Zimmerman’s turn to play hero against Mike Montgomery with a three-run shot to left that put the team ahead for good.

We will get to the home runs more in-depth later, but the unsung hero of the night might have been Adam Lind. Lind’s pinch-hit single started the rally and as Ron Darling pointed out on TBS, it was the team’s first hit with two strikes in the entire postseason.

Also, it shouldn’t be overlooked how good the bullpen has been in this series. Last night, the combination of Matt Albers, Sammy Solis, Ryan Madson, Oliver Perez, and Sean Doolittle didn’t give up a run over the final four innings. Right now, they have proven to be the better setup options (sans Doolittle) than the Cubs.

Now, the series shifts to Wrigley Field Monday afternoon for Game 3 as Max Scherzer makes his return to the rotation against Jose Quintana, who makes his postseason debut. Going on the road might be the best thing to happen to the Nats because they have been arguably the best road team in the National League.

So, before we look ahead to Game 3, here are my takeaways from last night’s dramatic 6-3 win, starting with the Nats starter who did everything he could to keep the team in the game.

Gio Gonzalez does his job

Lost in all of the fun events in the eighth inning last night was that Gio Gonzalez had arguably his best postseason start in a Washington Nationals uniform. While he only went five innings for the third time in six postseason starts, the left-hander didn’t allow the Cubs to get a crooked inning and that’s valuable.

In those five innings, Gonzalez gave up three runs on three hits, struck out six, and walked two on 83 pitches (51 strikes). Those three runs were scored on home runs by Willson Contreras in the second and Anthony Rizzo in the fourth.

After the ball wasn’t flying at all in Game 1, Contreras was able to hit a home run to left to lead off the second. But, Gonzalez kept his composure and got a pair of groundouts to short and a strikeout of Javier Baez to prevent further damage.

The Rizzo home run in the fourth inning had to send shockwaves to Gonzalez. Coming into the game, the Cubs first baseman only had two career hits against him and no extra base hits. But, Gonzalez hung a curveball, which was arguably his best pitch of the night, and Rizzo made him pay.

While the stat line wasn’t as flashy as a top line ace, Gonzalez did a good job of keeping his composure as he ended that fourth inning by getting Ben Zobrist to hit into a double play. It kept the theme of this year going where he didn’t turn a bad inning into a horrible inning.

Harper finds his timing at right time

The more at-bats that Bryce Harper was going to get this postseason, the quicker the timing would come back. Sometimes, it takes all but one swing to find the groove again and Harper might’ve done that with his towering home run in the eighth.

Before that home run, Harper was showing good patience at the plate throughout the game despite little results. In his four at-bats, he saw a total of 24 pitches, which was the most by any hitter on both sides. He had a seven pitch at-bat against Jon Lester in the fourth and an eight pitch at-bat in the sixth (both ended in groundouts).

Now, you could argue that the Cubs should’ve gone to Wade Davis for a five out save in the eighth. But, Maddon stuck with his right-hander and it ended up costing him as Harper took a hanging curveball and absolutely crushed it. That is impressive considering how teams have struggled against Edwards Jr.’s breaking ball this year:

With that home run, Harper now has five career postseason homers (most in Nats/Expos history) and the sixth home run he’s hit in the eighth inning or later this year (.400 average in the regular season).

The question is if  Maddon makes the same decision again should that situation happens in the next two games at least. Whether it happens or not, the move by Maddon and the hanging curve by Edwards Jr. might’ve just woken up Harper and the Nats offense.

Finally, check out this quote postgame by Gonzalez about Harper’s clutch ability, which is by far the quote of the night

Zimmerman gets monkey off back

Heading into the series, I talked a lot about how Zimmerman didn’t have great numbers against the Cubs dating back to 2016. The moment found him once again the eighth inning against Mike Montgomery and this time, the first baseman delivered in the clutch with a three-run home run that cleared the fence in left.

Heading into that at-bat, Zimmerman did have some other good moments in the game. He singled to lead off the fifth inning and got to third base via a stolen base and a wild pitch. No one could’ve guessed that Zimmerman would have the first Nats stolen base of the series and he was 2-for-16 against Lester coming into the night.

While Zimmerman didn’t score in that inning, that single gave him his first hit of the series and might’ve got his series going. Throughout his entire career, Zimmerman has been known as Mr. Walkoff. This wasn’t a walk-off, but it will go on his video tribute whenever his career is over.

This season, Zimmerman found a way to deliver in the clutch in big moments. That home run gave him 12 in the eighth inning or later this year, which is by far the most on the Nats roster. Only two players left in the postseason had 12 or more (J.D. Martinez and Cody Bellinger).

With that big home run out of the way against the Cubs, you have to wonder if Zimmerman will be loose as the series shifts to Wrigley Field. It is safe to say the memories of stranding all those runners in Chicago last year are now behind him.

Michael Taylor stays consistent

Before the heroics in the eighth, hardly any of the Washington Nationals were having much success against Cubs pitching. The box score will show a 0-for-2 night for Michael Taylor, but he has been putting together good at-bats the entire series.

Out of the four at-bats he had, Taylor only saw 13 pitches, but the bulk of those pitches came in the fifth inning against Lester. In that inning, he saw eight pitches and drew a walk. The Nats didn’t score that inning, but it showed the patience Taylor is showing at the plate.

In Game 1, you could make the case that Taylor was the best player on offense and when he is making contact, he is hitting hard line drives. If that approach continues, then eventually the stat line will look better than the 1-for-5 so far.

The bottom of the order for the Nats has been able to get on base with Taylor reaching base three times and Matt Wieters being hit by a couple of pitches. If those two players can get their swings going, that will only help the lineup become more consistent. Right now, Taylor isn’t showing much postseason nerves and that’s a good sign.