By forcing a Game five against the heavily favored Los Angeles Dodgers, the Washington Nationals won’t be the team feeling the most pressure on Wednesday.
The Washington Nationals will play their fourth decisive NLDS game in eight years on Wednesday at Dodger Stadium. For the first time, though, the weight of the world won’t be on their shoulders.
By saving their season with a surprisingly dominant Game 4 victory at Nationals Park, Washington not only shifted the series back to southern California but all the pressure that comes with a home elimination game.
The 106-win Los Angeles Dodgers were supposed to win this series with relative ease and cruise to a third consecutive World Series. Losing Wednesday in front of a huge home crowd would suddenly and shockingly derail their big plans.
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Many Nationals players know what the Dodgers are feeling. Washington was the National League’s top overall seed in 2012 when the Nats blew a six-run Game 5 lead to the St. Louis Cardinals and lost. They also blew home field advantage and respective leads in Game 5 of the 2016 and 2017 NLDS against the Dodgers and Chicago Cubs.
For a ballplayer, there is nothing worse than being eliminated from the playoffs in front of your home fans, especially when your team is expected to win. The Nationals won’t have to worry about that nightmare scenario this time around. It’s the Dodgers who will have to fear the consequences of what would be considered a wasted 2019 season if Los Angeles loses in the first round.
Washington should come out free and easy on Wednesday night. Stephen Strasburg will be on the mound and no matter what happens, Nats players will know the team advanced further than almost anyone, including yours truly, expected after starting the season 19-31 and falling behind by three runs in the winner-take-all NL Wild Card Game.
Underdog teams playing with house money are notoriously dangerous, as the San Francisco Giants proved to the top-seeded Nats in the 2014 NLDS. Should the Nationals take an early Game 5 lead, even an experienced team like the Dodgers might start to panic.
Whatever the result, the Washington Nationals have pushed a consensus World Series favorite to the brink of elimination despite having to use starting pitchers as relievers to compensate for the league’s worst bullpen. The team’s success is a testament to what has become its motto: “stay in the fight.” On Wednesday evening, we’ll find out whether the Nats will fight on.