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Jayson Werth's walk-off win was exhilarating, but the Washington Nationals still have work to do. They need a win over the St. Louis Cardinals in Friday night's decisive Game 5 to move on to face the San Francisco Giants in the NLCS.
The issue for Washington has been hitting; they've only mustered nine runs in the series and just a pair in their two games at home. They were able to win Thursday behind a pair of solo shots by Adam Laroche and Werth and a brilliant pitching performance by Ross Detwiler and the bullpen who combined for nine innings without allowing an earned run. But the poor hitting can't continue: Bryce Harper, Kurt Suzuki, and Danny Espinoza are all hitting under .100 on the series, and that is not a recipe for success.
Luckily, the Nats have their ace on the mound. Gio Gonzalez won 21 games in the regular season and was almost disappointing for allowing two runs in the team's 3-2 Game 1 win. Also luckily, the Cardinals don't have their ace. Adam Wainwright only gave up one run in his first start of the series and is one of the better options they have, they had to use Kyle Lohse in yesterday's Game 4 after he pitched in the NL Wild Card game. Wainwright's ERA was over a point higher at 3.94 during the regular season.
First pitch is at 8:37 p.m. ET on TBS.