October 4, 2014: The Longest Night in Nationals History

On October 4th, 2013, I was just 13-years-old and excited to be attending my second ever Nationals postseason game with my father, and we settled into our seats along the third base line for what we expected to be an epic game.

What would unfold over the next 6 hours and 23 minutes would result in one of the most tragic losses in franchise history, and a night that nobody in attendance would forget. After the heartbreaking series loss and Game 5 collapse in 2012, the Nationals were hungry for postseason success, and found themselves matched up with the San Francisco Giants in the NLDS. The Nats went 96-66 in Matt Williams' first season as manager, and the Nats' lineup was loaded with talent.

Starting on the bump for the Nats was Jordan Zimmermann, fresh off his first career no-hitter in Game 162, and was in the midst of one of the best seasons of his career. His pitching opposition was veteran righty Tim Hudson, who was coming off a solid year of his own in the twilight of his great career. The game was a true pitcher's duel most of the way, with Hudson being pulled in the 8th after 7 1/3 innings of work, allowing just one run, and Zimmermann coming just one out shy of a complete game shutout.

The decision made by Matt Williams was one that would go down in infamy, and I can vividly remember the anxiety that us Nats fans in our section had when Zimmermann was pulled from the game. Storen had 11 saves in 14 chances in the regular season, and had taken the closing role back from Rafael Soriano, who was always a wild card out of the bullpen. He also infamously was part of the epic bullpen collapse in 2012 that hadn't escaped the minds of Nats fans.

Storen would end up giving up a pair of base hits to Buster Posey and Pablo Sandoval, and was unable to preserve the 1-0 lead, sending the game into extra innings. The 10th inning was rocky, as it seemed frustration was beginning to boil over from both fans and players. This was exemplified when Asdrubal Cabrera lost his mind on home plate umpire Vic Carapazza after a borderline call, but he was more upset about the pitch before that was also questionable. Matt Williams was ejected as well, and they both honestly lucked out, as having to sit through the rest of the night from a warm clubhouse was probably a lot better than the cold DC night that the rest of us had to endure.

Coming into the game, I don't think any of us fans know that we would be getting another 9-inning game that night, but that was what had happened, as both teams were scoreless until a solo shot from Brandon Belt in the top of the 18th inning broke the scoreless tie, eventually being all of the cushion that the Giants would need to close out the game. I can still vividly see the image of Belt absolutely unloading on that baseball and dropping his bat as the ball landed in the second deck above the right field bullpen. The Nationals had burned through their bullpen and were forced to use Tanner Roark, who gave up the homer to Belt. San Francisco got an outstanding performance from future National reliever Yusmeiro Petit, who threw 6 scoreless innings out of the bullpen, earning the win in the process.

Walking out of that stadium, it truly felt as if you could hear a pin drop. It was well beyond closing time for Metro operators, but they made an exception to keep a few cars running to accommodate the fans like us who had stayed for the entire game. There were discussions on that train ride home among Nats fans debating about whether or not they should have kept Zimmermann in the game, and it seemed as if everyone already knew the series was over.

The Nationals would end up going down 2-0 in the series, and had a long flight out to San Francisco where they would win Game 3 and lose Game 4, ultimately resulting in another humiliating NLDS loss. Looking back on this series, besides being on the losing end of a historically long night in DC, we also saw the budding of a rivalry between Bryce Harper and Hunter Strickland, although it was Strickland who would ultimately earn a ring in 2019 with the Nationals and not Harper.

Overall, thinking back on this game brings back a great story for me to tell, in that I was so happy to be immersed with the electricity of Nationals Park, only to be in attendance for all 18 innings and watch the most heartbreaking defeat I had ever seen in person. Games like this made it that much sweeter in 2019.

What do you remember about this date and game in Nationals history? Did you watch the whole game? As always, please let me know on X, @DCBerk.