Nationals End Giants' Streak, Now Look to Turn the Tide in NLDS

The Washington Nationals' postseason fate was impacted by the left arm of San Francisco Giants ace Madison Bumgarner—only not in the way one would expect.

In yet another tightly contested National League Division Series battle, two mighty impressive Giants streaks came to an end in Monday's Game 3, as the Nationals kept their season alive with a 4-1 win after being down two games to none in the best-of-five set.

First, Bumgarner's stretch of 22 straight scoreless postseason innings was wiped out—literally by his own hand.

Second—and more importantly—the Nationals broke the Giants' 10-game playoff-winning binge, which was the longest in NL history and tied for the third-longest ever. 

Those achievements in the bag and Saturday's 18-inning marathon Game 2 loss in the rearview mirror, the Nationals now look to turn the tide in the NLDS.

Yes, they're still down and facing a second consecutive win-or-go-home scenario—literally, since Game 4 is in San Francisco—but here's how competitive this matchup has been: Washington actually has outscored the Giants, 7-6, over the first three games.

And who knows how San Francisco will react now that it's lost a playoff game for the first time since Game 4 of the 2012 NLCS against the St. Louis Cardinals. In that series, by the way, the Giants proved that a big comeback can be done after falling down three games to one.

The story for the Nationals in Game 3 was once again a stellar pitching performance from their starter. After Jordan Zimmermann came within one out of a shutout in Game 2, fellow right-hander Doug Fister earned the win with seven scoreless frames while limiting the Giants to four hits and three walks.

Playoff success is nothing new for Fister. Acquired via trade over the winter from the Detroit Tigers, he merely got it done in October yet again, only while wearing a different jersey this time.

After Monday's outing, the 30-year-old has thrown 55.1 innings in nine games, surrendering just 16 runs for a 2.60 ERA.

"Doug pitched great," Nationals manager Matt Williams said in his postgame press conference. "He was in command with everything. He just continues to compete for us."

Bumgarner was doing much the same, shutting out Washington through six and extending his scoreless streak—until a costly mistake on his part brought that to an end.

While fielding a bunt by Wilson Ramos with men on first and second and nobody out in the seventh, the lefty tried to nab the lead runner at third base rather than get the sure out at first. Alas, Bumgarner threw the ball away so badly that it rolled all the way down the left-field line and into the on-field bullpen, allowing both runners to score.

"When you're in an intense game like that, [a mistake is] probably going to cost you, which it did," manager Bruce Bochy said of Bumgarner's error at his presser. "He was trying to do a little too much there."

That served to help Washington's struggling offense, which had been limited to a .160/.225/.245 line entering Game 3.

"It's a dire situation," Williams said afterward. "We've gotta try to score a run, [Ramos] has to execute there, and he did."

Indeed, Ramos did, despite bunting with two strikes—always a risky proposition—and not having converted a sacrifice bunt since August of 2011.

Two innings after that, Bryce Harper's home run—his second monster solo shot of the series—provided the fourth and final run for Washington. The 21-year-old had a big day overall, scoring all the way from first on Bumgarner's error and making two very nice defensive plays in left field.

The late-inning luck seemed to spark the Nationals a bit and could carry some good vibes heading into Game 4.

What's more, the pitching matchup appears to favor Washington, with lefty Gio Gonzalez (3.57 ERA, 1.20 WHIP, 9.2 K/9) going against right-hander Ryan Vogelsong (4.00, 1.28, 7.4).

Then again, Vogelsong has allowed only three runs on 16 hits in 24.2 innings across four October starts with the Giants, all of which came during the club's 2012 title run.

Gonzalez, meanwhile, was a bit all over the place earlier during that very postseason, walking 11 in 10 frames over two starts for the Nationals. He did, however, give up only five runs on six hits while striking out 10.

And Gonzalez found his form over his final 10 turns in the regular season, posting a 3.08 ERA and 1.09 WHIP to go with a 62-17 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 61.1 innings.

Between that and the way a must-win Game 3 played out, the Nationals have new life. Or at least, they still have life, which is more than can be said of two of the other favored teams in this wild, wacky 2014 MLB postseason.

Speaking of wacky:

If that pattern holds true, there's a good chance the Nationals can turn the tide all the way around and get back to D.C.

To do so, they're going to have their postseason fate impacted by another left-hander in Game 4. Only this time, it'll be their own.

Statistics are accurate through Oct. 6 and courtesy of MLB.com, Baseball-Reference and FanGraphs unless otherwise noted.

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