SB Nation DC - Dodgers Vs. Nationals: They're In! Washington Clinches Postseason Berth With 4-1 Win

Washington Nationals Make D.C. Baseball History

2012-09-21T12:01:54Z

In a quick interview between games during Wednesday's doubleheader with Los Angeles in Nationals Park, Davey Johnson was asked if the Nationals winning their 90th game of the season and becoming the seventh team he'd led to a 90-win season, meant anything to him. Johnson wasn't too interested in that or any other mile posts along the way. "The only thing that's going to mean anything to me is when we clinch the pennant," Johnson said, "That's the only number I'm concerned with. It's down to nine [games] and that's good. We need to get it down to eight and go from there."

The fact that the Nats were one win away from clinching the first postseason berth by a Washington, D.C.-based team in 79 years didn't seem to mean much to the Nats' 69-year-old skipper either.

Washington Times writer Amanda Comak noted that before play started on Wednesday, Johnson was asked if he'd thought at all about the fact that it could be the day the Nationals clinched the first playoff berth by a team from D.C. since 1933. "'Not really,' [Johnson] said flatly. 'I’m a math major, so I can count, you know? But I’m only concerned with the number 10,'" which was the number of wins it will take to clinch the division, which was, of course, down to 9 after the Nats' win in game one against the Dodgers and eight after their win Thursday in the series' rubber game.

It may not mean much to the Nationals' manager, or the players, and that's probably the right approach to take for a team that has much larger goals in mind this season. But it does mean something to fans in the nation's capital, and even some who followed the franchise when they resided north of the border, that the Washington Nationals clinched the first postseason appearance by a D.C.-based franchise in 79 years Thursday night.

I was six years old when the Montreal Expos I've followed my whole life as a baseball fan made their one and only postseason appearance during the strike-shortened 1981 season. I have vague mental images of seeing Expos like Warren Cromartie, Tim Raines, Andre Dawson, Gary Carter and Steve Rogers that Fall, just flashes of a tv screen really, as my only memories of seeing the team I grew up watching in a playoff game. I can remember seeing Expos uniforms in Veterans Stadium that year as Montreal beat Philadelphia in a five-game series to make it to the NLCS against the Los Angeles Dodgers. I definitely recall seeing the Expos in Dodgers Stadium that October against Fernando Valenzuela, Mike Scioscia, Steve Garvey and the Dodgers, but I'd be lying if I said I remembered anything about the actual games that I haven't looked back at and pieced together since.

Valenzuela (and NLCS MVP Burt Hooton) led the Dodgers' to a 2-1 win in the deciding game five of the NLCS that season, helping L.A. cap off a comeback with a second straight win after they'd fallen behind Montreal two games to one. The Dodgers went on to win the 1981 World Series over the New York Yankees.

That was Montreal's only postseason appearance from its founding in 1969 to its relocation after the 2004 season.

The Expos were leading the East and the Atlanta Braves by six games when the 1994 season ended after 114 games. It was somehow the second time a strike had affected Montreal's postseason ambitions. This time it stopped them cold.

When the Expos made a run again in 2003, battling in the Wild Card race, they were denied the opportunity to make September call-ups by their owners (MLB). It was a move that most saw as the last straw for baseball in Montreal.

Two years later, the Expos became the Washington Nationals, inheriting a history of postseason success that skipped the second Senators, who played eleven years in D.C. from 1961-71 without ever finishing higher than fourth in the American League, and went all the way back to the original Senators who last made a playoff appearance 79 years ago in 1933.

Between 1924 -- when Walter Johnson, Goose Goslin and the Washington Senators were able to win the only World Series in D.C. baseball history -- and 1933, when General Crowder, Earl Whitehill, Joe Kuhel and the Senators lost the '33 Series to the New York Giants, the nation's capital's original Senators made three postseason appearances, winning it all in '24 and losing to the Pirates in '25 before the five-game loss in the final postseason appearance by a D.C.-based team eight years later in '33.

It had been 79 years, many of them with no team calling the nation's capital home, before the Thursday's win guaranteed a return to the postseason. 79 years from now, will people remember what Ross Detwiler did on the mound Thursday, when he pitched six IP for the W? Will they remember Bryce Harper hustling to beat out a potential double play grounder, then scoring from first on an RBI double by Ryan Zimmerman? Will they remember the dominant ninth inning Drew Storen pitched to seal the win? Probably not. At least not as much as they'll remember the first actual postseason game and the memories made in October. But no one who's followed this team and watched what happened last night will ever forget it.

Why The Nationals (Lack Of) Celebration Was Just Fine With Us

2012-09-21T11:45:10Z

Oh, for God's sake.

Les Carpenter of Yahoo Sports, we have never had beef before, so far as we can recall. But then you had to go and write this, at the bottom of a quick, few-hundred word piece on the Nationals' blase attitude toward Thursday night's postseason-clinching win:

A division title might mean more, but in a [city] longing for a postseason spot - no matter how contrived it might be - it was worth more than a few handshakes and high fives.

We have a couple of questions for you, Mr. Carpenter, which we will ask below the jump.

1. You say that the Nats' celebration was too subdued, but then you cite the following celebratory examples as being "silly": dancing on tables, donning goggles, spraying alcohol. Some of the aforementioned has occurred after the clinching of wild card spots. Pray, Mr. Carpenter, what sort of celebration should have occurred?

2. When was the last time, Mr. Carpenter, that you saw a team celebrate ANYTHING when they had a 5.5 game division lead with 13 games to play? Should the unthinkable happen, a beer shower celebration two weeks before the end of the regular season would look ridiculous, would it not? And as Jack Woltz once said (and, come to think of it, as Davey Johnson might say himself) men in their position can't afford to be made to look ridiculous. (No, we don't know where the horse head fits into this analogy. Give us time.)

Answers on a postcard, please.

The Last Time A D.C. Baseball Team Made The Postseason ...

2012-09-21T02:45:09Z

On September 29, 1933, the Washington Senators, managed by Joe Cronin, defeated Joe McCarthy's New York Yankees, 8-5 to clinch the American League pennant.

The win, Washington's 98th of the season, was officially credited to pitcher Earl Whitehill, who improved his record to 22-8 by going seven innings and allowing five runs on eight hits with six walks and two strikeouts. Jack Russell pitched the final two innings to record his 13th save of the season. The losing pitcher for the Yankees, Red Ruffing, pitched all nine innings despite allowing eight runs on 10 hits and two walks.

Offensively, Washington's offensive stars were left fielder Heinie Manush, who doubled, homered, and drove in three runs; and first baseman Joe Kuhel, who went 2-for-4 with a double and drove in two more runs.

On that same day, Germany's Nazi government decreed that mid-size family farms could not be inherited by any other person except for the youngest son, could not be divided among the family, and could not be owned by any "non-Aryan" people.

So yes, it's been a very long time since a D.C. team played meaningful October baseball. Now, it's happened again.

Dodgers Vs. Nationals: Washington Clinches Postseason Berth With 4-1 Win

2012-09-21T02:03:24Z

The Washington Nationals are headed to the postseason for the first time in their D.C. history, clinching a spot with a 4-1 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Thursday night. The Nats can now do no worse than the second Wild Card spot.

Ross Detwiler (10-6) was fantastic on the mound yet again, pitching six innings and allowing just one run. Detwiler has been one of the steadier pitchers in the game all season and Thursday was no different. He gave up just three hits while striking out five during his six innings. The only blemish was a Mark Ellis solo homer to lead off the fourth.

On offense, the Nats lineup got to Los Angeles starer Chris Capuano with back-to-back two-run rallies in the third and fourth. Ryan Zimmerman, who received his third cortisone shot of the season this week, doubled home Bryce Harper to break the scoreless tie. Zimmerman eventually scored on a Capuano wild pitch that made it 2-0.

One inning later, it was Danny Espinosa who came through with the RBI double, driving in Ian Desmond. Espinosa would also eventually score on a Kurt Suzuki sac fly, and with Detwiler cruising, the Nationals would never look back. Christian Garcia, Ryan Mattheus, and Drew Storen cleaned up the final three innings without incident.

The win also clinched the series after Wednesday's split in the doubleheader. Milwaukee, who's suddenly in the Wild Card discussion, comes to town on Friday for a weekend series. Edwin Jackson will take the hill for Washington on Friday while the Brewers will counter with Shaun Marcum.

For more on the Nationals, please be sure to check out our blog Federal Baseball and SB Nation DC for all the latest news and updates.

Dodgers Vs. Nationals: Ross Detwiler Starts As Nationals Try To Wrap Up Postseason Spot

2012-09-20T19:57:03Z

With the Washington Nationals just one win away from clinching the franchise's first postseason berth since 1981, and the first for a Washington D.C. baseball team since 1933, manager Davey Johnson has sent out his best lineup to back up Ross Detwiler.

As for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Don Mattingly's squad sits two games behind the St. Louis Cardinals for the second National League Wild Card spot. They will send Chris Capuano to the mound. The full lineups are below.

Los Angeles Dodgers (77-72)

1. Mark Ellis, 2B

2. Shane Victorino, LF

3. Matt Kemp, CF

4. Adrian Gonzalez, 1B

5. Hanley Ramirez, SS

6. Andre Ethier, RF

7. Luis Cruz, 3B

8. A.J. Ellis, C

9. Chris Capuano, P

Washington Nationals (90-58)

1. Jayson Werth, RF

2. Bryce Harper, CF

3. Ryan Zimmerman, 3B

4. Adam LaRoche, 1B

5. Michael Morse, LF

6. Ian Desmond, SS

7. Danny Espinosa, 2B

8. Kurt Suzuki, C

9. Ross Detwiler, P

Tonight's game begins at 7:05 and will be aired on MASN. Areas outside MASN's footprint can catch the game on the MLB Network. The game can also be heard on 106.7 The Fan, WFHS 1580 AM and WFED 1500 AM.

For more on the Nationals, please be sure to check out our blog Federal Baseball and SB Nation DC for all the latest news and updates.

PHOTO: This Blown Call Cost The Nationals A Run Wednesday Night

2012-09-20T03:12:49Z

Let's just get to this right now. Yes, the Dodgers got a run that they shouldn't have in the top of the fourth inning when Hanley Ramirez grounded into a fielder's choice play at third base. Ryan Zimmerman tagged out Adrian Gonzalez long before Matt Kemp crossed the plate.

The umpires huddled for a time before making a plainly incorrect call. The Dodgers should have been up 5-0 after the top of the fourth instead of being up 6-0. The photo below the jump makes it plain just how wrong the call was.

Via @recordsANDradio.

So there you are. However, we had to roll our eyes at the sentiments on Twitter during the Nats' game-tying rally in the eighth. Those sentiments were to the effect of "Washington should be winning right now, but the umpires gave the Dodgers an extra run." After Matt Kemp's home run gave the Dodgers the lead, the umpires got another blast of invective.

However, there is such a thing as the fallacy of the predetermined outcome. If the run is taken off the board, there's no guarantee that the game plays out in the exact way that it eventually did. Indeed, most of the negative stuff that affected the game (namely, John Lannan's poor start) had already taken place.

So blame the umpires for botching the call if you like, but blaming them for losing the game is rather a stretch.

Dodgers Vs. Nationals Final Score: Los Angeles Wins A Wild One, 7-6

2012-09-20T02:51:41Z

The Washington Nationals will have to wait another night to clinch a playoff berth after losing to the Los Angeles Dodgers, 7-6, in the second game of their Wednesday doubleheader.

The game looked out of reach, with Washington trailing 6-0 heading into the bottom of the eighth. Incredibly, the Nats were able to come alive, tying the game on home runs from Steve Lombardozzi and Michael Morse, along with a Bryce Harper RBI single and a two-RBI single by Morse.

Unfortunately, the euphoria was short-lived for the Nationals. Matt Kemp hit a solo blast in the top of the ninth, propelling the Dodgers to a much-needed victory.

John Lannan didn't give his teammates much of a chance after having a very rough outing. Lannan was knocked around early and often at Nationals Park, surrendering six runs on eight hits and two walks in 3 2/3 innings.

For more on the Nationals, please be sure to check out our blog Federal Baseball and SB Nation DC for all the latest news and updates.

Dodgers Vs. Nationals: Danny Espinosa Held Out Of Washington Lineup For Game 2

2012-09-19T23:45:16Z

After going 2-for-4 in the Washington Nationals' 3-1 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers in the first game of Wednesday's old-fashioned doubleheader, Danny Espinosa has been held out of the nightcap by manager Davey Johnson. The only other lineup change Johnson's made is at catcher, where Jesus Flores replaces Kurt Suzuki.

The full lineups:

Los Angeles Dodgers (76-72)

1. Mark Ellis, 2B

2. Shane Victorino, LF

3. Matt Kemp, CF

4. Adrian Gonzalez, 1B

5. Hanley Ramirez, SS

6. Andre Ethier, RF

7. Luis Cruz, 3B

8. Matt Treanor, C

9. Josh Beckett, P

Washington Nationals (90-57)

1. Jayson Werth, RF

2. Bryce Harper, CF

3. Ryan Zimmerman, 3B

4. Adam LaRoche, 1B

5. Michael Morse, LF

6. Ian Desmond, SS

7. Steve Lombardozzi, 2B

8. Jesus Flores, C

9. John Lannan, P

For more updates on this story, stay tuned to this StoryStream and SB Nation DC. For all the latest news and analysis on the Washington Nationals, visit Federal Baseball.Baseball Nation is your source for news and analysis around Major League Baseball.