That's all: Nationals knock Cardinals out of playoffs in 4-game sweep
WASHINGTON (KMOX/AP) — Washington is heading to the World Series for the first time in 86 years after the wild-card Nationals used a seven-run first inning and Patrick Corbin's 12-strikeout performance to hold on and beat the St. Louis Cardinals 7-4 Tuesday night for a sweep of the NL Championship Series.
Quite a stunning turnaround for the Nationals, who went from 19-31 in May — when there was talk of firing manager Dave Martinez and trading away players — to the Fall Classic in October. They have won 16 of their last 18 games.
All the heartache of playoffs past seemed to dissipate during an evening that only briefly was tense for the home team and its supporters: In the fifth, a juggled Cardinals lineup finally awoke, scoring three runs — one more than the team managed to produce in Games 1-3 combined — to get within 7-4.
With a man on second and the tying run in the on-deck circle, Corbin came through, striking out St. Louis' 3-4 hitters, Paul Goldschmidt and Marcell Ozuna, with sliders.
Washington gets plenty of time to rest and set up its rotation before beginning the World Series in a week against the Houston Astros or New York Yankees. Houston leads the best-of-seven AL Championship Series 2-1 after winning Game 3 at New York 4-1 Tuesday.
