Edwin Jackson costs Washington Nationals 0-8 rout against St. Louis Cardinals in NLDS-MLB Update
Starter Edwin Jackson yields eight hits as he costs Washington Nationals 0-8 rout against St. Louis Cardinals at Nationals Park on October 10, 2012 in the third game of the five match National League Division Series.
The Nationals were shut-down in such an important game. With the loss on Wednesday, they are on the verge of an exit from the post-season.
Their starter Jackson did not carry out his job properly. By allowing the Cardinals an early lead in the game he put the Nationals under pressure. For the same reason throughout the match they could not launch an effective counter-attack.
Unfortunately the offence which lifted the Nationals throughout the regular season is not performing well in the post-season. Since beginning of the playoffs, their hitters have struggled to strike home-runs and register reasonable totals on the scoreboard.
On Wednesday, their pitchers had little support from the offence.
Jackson threw five innings and leaked four runs. After he left the mound, the relievers far from throwing scoreless innings substantiated Cardinals' lead by giving up more runs.
Offensively the Nationals produced seven hits in the game but they were unable to convert them into runs. Their shortstop Ian Desmond was the most successful batter at the plate as he struck three hits in four at-bats.
Nationals’ manager Davey Johnson has acknowledged the fact that they are naive with regard to playing in the post-season.
''The starting pitching, we showed a little inexperience there,'' Johnson said. ''I mean, not going right after hitters - and also not pitching.''
Giving up runs in the beginning of the game on Wednesday by their starter was the reflection of this. Those runs were one of the main reasons why momentum went on the Cardinals’ side and never returned to the Nationals.
After the loss, Johnson has expressed his optimism as he believes that they still have a great chance of ending up winning the series.
''We're not out of this, by a long shot,'' Johnson said. ''Shoot, I've had my back to worse walls than this.''
The fourth match of the series will be a must win for the Nationals. They will be looking to see their offence posting sufficient number of runs on the scoreboard.
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