
2014 Washington Nationals vs. 2011 Washington Nationals
After six hard-fought games, we have our first upset of the tournament. The 2011 Nationals defeated the 2014 Nationals by an average margin of victory of 3.5 runs.
In the games the 2011 Nats won, they won by an average of 5.75 runs per game. In their two losses, they lost by one run in a pair of 2-1 scores. This clearly shows that despite the underdog role the better team came out victorious.
The most valuable player award must be split in two for this series, but for a good reason. In games five and six, when the leverage was at its highest, these two players delivered.
In the third inning of game five, Roger Bernadina (’11) and Ryan Zimmerman (’11) hit back-to-back home runs off of Jordan Zimmermann (’14).
Then, in game six, it was groundhog day as they did the same again. This time in the sixth inning, these two went back-to-back off of Stephen Strasburg (’14) to turn a one-run deficit into a one-run lead.
Bernandina and Zimmerman raked in an upset for their team and will face the winner of the lucky seven’s quarterfinal matchup.