Washington Nationals: A night for the graybeards

Anibal Sanchez, Howie Kendrick, Ryan Zimmerman, and Yan Gomes carry the Washington Nationals to an NLCS Game one victory.

Eight players, seven of them over age 30, made the difference in Washington Nationals 2-0 Game 1 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals in the NLCS.

The Nats won because of their four veterans out-played the Cardinals’ four.

Washington’s veterans in the spotlight were pitcher Anibal Sanchez, 35, catcher Yan Gomes, 31, and infielders Howie Kendrick, 35, and Ryan Zimmerman, 34. The four Cardinals in key spots were Marcel Ozuna, 28, Paul Goldschmidt, 31, Matt Carpenter, 33, and Dexter Fowler, also 33. The Nats four had all the best of it; the Cardinal quartet saw only frustration.

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Here’s a recap of the night’s key moments.

Top of the second. After Cardinal starter Miles Mikolas fanned three hitters in the top of the first, the Washington Nationals put the codger portion of their lineup to work.  Kendrick slammed Mikolas’ second pitch into the gap in left-center for a double.

Two outs later Cardinals manager Mike Shildt faced a decision: pitch to Gomes in the hope of having Sanchez lead off the next inning or walk Gomes and make Sanchez bat with two out. He chose to challenge Gomes, who sent Kendrick across with a double of his own.

Bottom of the second. Cardinal cleanup hitter Ozuna picked on a high 1-1 Sanchez cutter – maybe the worst pitch 35-year-old Sanchez made all night – and slammed it toward the center-field barrier. At 105.8 mph, it was the Cards’ hardest-hit ball all night.

But with a game-time temperature of just 45 degrees, the ball died just short of the track and center fielder Michael A. Taylor made the play easily. The play proved that this would be a pitcher’s night.

Bottom of the fourth. Sanchez had retired the first 10 batters he faced before walking Kolten Wong, who stole second. With two out, Ozuna returned to the spotlight, swinging to drive home the tying run. He got a good pitch to hit, a high sinker, but got under it and merely popped it up to third baseman Anthony Rendon to end the inning.

Bottom of the fifth. Carpenter’s frustrating night — which also included a pair of groundouts — hit rock bottom when he foul tipped a strike two pitch. Replays showed that Gomes short-hopped the tip, but plate umpire Mike Muchlinski didn’t see it that way, and the call was such a close one that his fellow umps did not overrule him. Instead of getting another cut, Carpenter was out.

Bottom of the sixth. Since walking Wong, Sanchez had retired six consecutive batters. But he floated a splitter up and in to pinch hitter Randy Arozarena and hit him, who promptly stole second. Then with the tying run in scoring position, Fowler went out on an easy ground ball and Wong hit a soft liner to Taylor to retire the side.

Top of the seventh. Kendrick was the night’s offensive star. With two out and Adam Eaton at third, he got a center-cut slider from reliever John Brebbia and planted it in front of Fowler in center field for Washington’s second run.

Bottom of the eighth. Zimmerman was to the Nats’ defense what Kendrick was to the offense. With Sanchez still protecting his no-hit bid, Zimmerman’s diving catch snared Tommy Edman’s bid for a line hit to right. The catch not only preserved the no-hit try, but it became critical to the game outcome when pinch hitter Jose Martinez two batters later dropped a base hit into center field. Had Edman’s stroke gotten through for a double, he might have scored on Martinez’ hit.

Bottom of the ninth. Reliever Sean Doolittle, who replaced Sanchez after Martinez’ hit, threw out Wong’s bunt attempt, retired Goldschmidt on an easy grounder, and then fanned Ozuna for the final out. It concluded a combined 0-11 night for the heart of the home team’s order.

The bottom line. The Washington Nationals four 30-somethings – Kendrick, Gomes Sanchez and Zimmerman – combined for six hits and both RBIs. Zimmerman also delivered the critical defensive play, and Sanchez limited the Cardinals to that single eighth inning base hit.