Gonzalez vs Harrell
Nats 4, Astros 3
Houston scored 3 runs in the bottom of the first and had Gio Gonzalez on the ropes, but they let him off the hook. Washington's Cy Young candidate righted his ship and did not allow a run during his next 5 innings on the hill. Meanwhile the Nats offense began chipping away with runs in 4 consecutive innings to take a 4-3 lead. Stammen and Clippard shut the door on the 'Stros to give the Nats the opener.
GAME 2 - Nationals Park
Rodriguez vs Strasburg
Astros 10, Nats 4
Apparently the Washington brass had the good sense to shut down Stephen Strasburgh in order to avoid a post season calamity like the one that happened here in game 2. Obviously the young hard throwing righty had nothing giving up 4 runs in 4 innings and blowing a 3-0 lead that was handed to him. In Strasburgh's defense his minion of relievers were equally horrible as the 'Stros scored more runs in this game than they typically compile in a full homestand. Thirdbaseman Chris Johnson (4-5) paced an offense that posted 10 runs on 14 hits. Wandy Rodriguez got the win even though he did not qualify for a quality start.
GAME 3 - Nationals Park
Norris vs Zimmermann
Astros 10, Nats 9
So much for home cooking. The road team would wind up winning all 3 games in this series, which means the #30 seeded Astros upset the #3 seeded Nats. How did they do it ? By scoring more runs in 3 games than they scored during the whole month of September. This game was a slugfest with the Astros coming out 1 run ahead. With the score tied 9-9 the Astros opened the top of the 8th against Henry Rodriguez by greeting him with a solo shot by Justin Maxwell, who is your prototypical feast or famine hitter. A shocked crowd in our nation's capitol watched Brett Myers and Wilton Lopez shut the door on their team's season.
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