National League Champions!

The Washington Nationals are National League Champions!

I'm interrupting the usual "Watson Wednesday" post today to share that my Washington Nationals completed a four game sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals and are going to the World Series! I am still trying to wrap my head around it but I wanted to document it on my blog to remember for all time - not that it's something I'll forget!

Game One was in St. Louis and Anibal Sanchez carried a no-hitter through 7.2 innings before it was broken up. The pitching kept the Cardinals bats silent through all nine innings and the two runs the Nationals scored were enough to make the series 1-0.

Game Two was also in St. Louis and Max Scherzer carried a no hitter through 6 innings before it was broken up. Michael A. Taylor hit a home run to get the Nationals on the board and two additional runs, coupled with another stunning pitching performance meant that game two was also a win for the Nationals. They took a 2-0 series lead home to DC.

Game Three was at home: Nationals Park saw it's very first NLCS game in history and the Nationals made sure to make it a good one. Stephen Strasburg pitched an absolute gem, the bats came to life and combined to score eight runs and just like that, the Nationals had a 3-0 lead in the series and were a win away from the World Series.

Game Four was in DC, falling on Ted Lerner's 94th birthday (he owns the Nationals) and Patrick Corbin became the first pitcher to rack up 10 K's in just four innings during the post-season. The Nationals scored all seven runs in the first inning, knocking out the Cardinal's pitcher Dakota Hudson and going on to eliminate the Cardinals and earn the title of National League Champions - and a trip to the World Series. 

I'm pretty sure I'm still trying to convince myself last night really happened. But - it absolutely did and my Washington Nationals start the World Series on Tuesday, October 22nd! Wow!