Trailing behind, Cardinals storm their way back into NLDS Game 5 to win the title – Part 5
The final showdown between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Washington Nationals in the National League Division Series Game 5 had all the elements of excitement. The Cardinals stunned their rival with four-run ninth to clinch the title with 9-7 victory.
It was the Nationals who had a six run lead earlier, something that seemed an easy game ahead for the Nationals as the finale progressed. But not really as the Cardinals’ batters staged a comeback and stole the show with an astounding 9-7 win.
With Adam Wainwright tasked to pitch in the crucial game, the pitcher struggled immensely, allowing six costly runs in merely 2.1 innings, with seven hits. Gio Gonzalez, on the other hand, pitched relatively better, surrendering only three runs in the five innings.
The six runs that came to the Nationals in the first three innings included three homers, by Ryan Zimmermann, Michael Morse and Bryce Harper, along with a single that Harper scored in the first inning.
But the Cardinals did not let the lead thwart them from attaining the goal they had: Winning the National League Division Series title.
The batters made their way back into the game with quick succession. As the score stood tied in the ninth by 7-7, Daniel Descalso had a go-ahead two-run single along with another two-run single from Pete Kozma to put an end to the Washington Nationals’ dream of clinching the title here.
"We knew we had a lot of game left after they scored six. Nobody went up there trying to hit a six-run homer," said Descalso, whose solo shot in the eighth made it 6-5. "We needed to scratch and claw and get ourselves back in the game."
For Descalso, going down by 6-0 was a tough challenge and call, but it had to be overcome eventually. "Would have been easy for us to go down 6-0 and sort of roll over and let the crowd take us out of it," Descalso said, "and just let them have the game."
It was then Jason Motte who had to do the needed. Pitching the eighth inning, and allowing a run, Motte came down harder in the ninth to save one of the most important games of his life. He had it the Cardinals way, securing the 9-7 lead and victory to not only win the NLDS but also qualify for the National League Championship Series.
The Cardinals fought hard and kept their ‘never say die’ attitude alive as they came back from behind to steal the series from the Nationals. Washington was disappointed as they lost the game after leading throughout.
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