Nationals vs. Giants: Keys for Each Team to Win NLDS Game 3
It's desperation time for the Washington Nationals.
After two one-run losses (one of which went 18 innings), the Nationals have their backs against a wall. As the top playoff seed in the National League, much was expected of the Nats. The pitching has been strong, but timely hitting has been an issue.
On the other hand, the San Francisco Giants are enjoying their even-year magic. Brandon Belt was the hero Saturday, launching a ball deep into right field in the 18th inning to give his team the lead.
Game 3 is do-or-die for Washington. It's hard to come back from 2-0 in a series, but you have to get to 2-1 first.
Doug Fister will take the ball for the Nats in Game 3. Opposing him will be Madison Bumgarner, the left-hander who dominated the Pittsburgh Pirates in the Wild Card Game.
Bumgarner is 4-2 in his postseason career with a 3.02 ERA. Fister is 3-2 with a 2.98 ERA in his postseason career. That's a great pitching matchup on tap for Game 3.
Here are a few keys to Game 3, scheduled for Monday at 5:07 p.m. ET in San Francisco on MLB Network.
Nationals: Get the Bats Going
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The Nationals possess one of the most balanced lineups in baseball. There's speed at the top, power in the middle and guys at the end capable of turning the lineup over.
They haven't shown any of that through two games.
Giants pitching has done well to stifle Washington's lineup, holding it to a .160 average thus far. Denard Span is 0-for-11. Jayson Werth, Adam LaRoche, Wilson Ramos and Ian Desmond each have one hit. Bryce Harper is hitting .182.
The only hitter seeing the ball well is Anthony Rendon, who has really been the most consistent hitter for the team this season anyway. He's hitting a robust .455 after a four-hit night Saturday. That said, he can't do it alone.
It doesn't get easier against Bumgarner, but some notable bats have decent histories against the lefty:
| Asdrubal Cabrera | 2-for-3, 1 RBI |
| Ian Desmond | 5-for-15, 1 2B, 2 RBI, 1 BB, 5 SO |
| Bryce Harper | 3-for-9, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 2 SO |
| Adam LaRoche | 6-for-21, 3 2B, 1 RBI, 8 SO |
| Anthony Rendon | 3-for-5, 1 2B, 2 SO |
| Denard Span | 1-for-8, 1 RBI, 2 SO |
| Jayson Werth | 2-for-11, 1 3B, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 2 SO |
| Ryan Zimmerman | 3-for-17, 1 2B, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 1 BB, 2 SO |
The lineup desperately needs Span to light a fire at the top, but it doesn't appear as if he'll do so against a pitcher against whom he has barely any success.
Giants: Get the Panda Rolling
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Pablo Sandoval still isn't hitting, and while the Giants keep winning, it's still best that they get one of their key cogs in the lineup going.
Through two games, the third baseman is hitting just .167 with two hits. Sure, one of his two hits was arguably the biggest of the series against Drew Storen, but the frequency of hits needs to change.
There is a possible solution for the Giants, one that was broken down in the keys for Game 1 of the series. San Francisco needs to move him to No. 3 in the order.
Ahead of Buster Posey and Hunter Pence, Sandoval would see a ton of fastballs. Pitchers don't want to walk him and face Posey and Pence with men on base, so Sandoval will see hittable pitches. The best way to break out of a slump is to put the ball in play and make something happen.
Should the Giants win Game 3, they'll need to consider a lineup switch to compete against the great pitching of either the Los Angeles Dodgers or St. Louis Cardinals.
They can't continue rolling with a cleanup hitter hitting under .200. Luckily, he's 4-for-5 in his career against Doug Fister.
Nationals: Keep Table-Setters off the Bases
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One of the reasons the Giants haven't plated many runs this series is because Gregor Blanco and Joe Panik are hitting .100 and .182, respectively.
The Nos. 1 and 2 hitters aren't performing, and Doug Fister needs to continue the trend of keeping them off the bases. If they get on, that gives Buster Posey and the other big boppers the opportunity to drive them home.
Keeping Blanco off base shouldn't be too hard. Aside from the fact that he's scuffling with the bat, he's 0-for-3 with a strikeout in his career against Fister. Yes, that's a small sample size, but Fister will likely stick to that same game plan to get outs.
Panik, on the other hand, is 3-for-3 against Fister with a three-run home run.
Fister's offense isn't clicking right now. Yielding two runs to the Giants could very well be the end of the line for the Nationals, especially with Madison Bumgarner on the bump.
It's easier said than done, but Fister needs to dominate Blanco and Panik.
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Giants: Hit Better with RISP
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Another reason the Giants have struggled on offense is their inability to hit with runners in scoring position. The team is 4-for-23 in those situations through two games, and that's simply not good enough.
The Giants haven't had a hard time getting runners on base. They've gotten multiple runners to second and third with fewer than two outs, and those are runners who must score. When all it takes is a ball hit into the outfield to score a run, the offense needs to convert.
Granted, the Nationals are good at striking hitters out. Washington's arms have set down 18 hitters on strikes in this series, and their ability to blow hitters away does make it difficult for the Giants to have productive at-bats.
Against more of a strike-thrower in Doug Fister, San Francisco has to be aggressive and swing at strikes. Look for the Giants to swing early in the count against Fister, especially with runners on base.
Fister is confident, according to The Washington Post's Adam Kilgore, and appears up for the challenge of getting the Nationals back into this series, saying, "What I've worked on for the last eight months will be on my fingertips."
Nationals: Shake off the Heartbreak
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Drew Storen needs to forget about the past on Monday.
He has to forget about the game-tying hit by Pablo Sandoval in the ninth inning of Saturday's game. But that's not all. He needs to forget about the heartbreaking 2012 National League Division Series against the St. Louis Cardinals when he allowed Pete Kozma to be a hero.
This is not time to dwell on the past. The Nationals are in win-now mode, and they cannot afford to throw a pitcher into a big situation who has problems coping with two bad pitches he threw in previous outings.
Storen needs to be the lockdown closer that he was the final weeks of the regular season. He was thrust into closing duties after Rafael Soriano failed to convert saves in the final month of the year, after which Storen accounted for 11 saves.
Look for the Nationals to use him in Game 3. The results, however, are unpredictable.
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