BY Damon Knight
As baseball’s NLDS came to an epic conclusion on Wednesday night, we saw two teams reign victorious. The first of the two game double header took place at SunTrust Park; as the Atlanta Braves squared off against the St. Louis Cardinals. The game featured Braves pitcher, Mike Foltynewicz vs. Cardinals pitcher, Jack Flaherty. With the Cardinals on deck first, I’m sure Foltynewicz would love to forget about his first start, after being pulled from the game in the first inning giving up six runs and leaving 1 man on base. When asked about his performance, Foltynewicz said, “It’s very embarrassing,” he said, “Especially at a stage like this for millions of people to see, to let millions of people down. It’s just a tough situation.” However, this tough situation lead the way for the Cardinals to finish the first inning with a 10-run lead. By the end of the fourth, all of the runs were in the books. Leaving the Cardinals victorious.
In game two of the NLDS double header, the Los Angeles Dodgers went up against the Washington Nationals, as both teams faced a game 5 elimination. The pitching matchup was between National’s pitcher, Stephen Strasburg and Dodgers pitcher, Walker Buehler. In the first two innings, the Dodgers jumped all over Strasberg as a ground rule double from Joc Pederson pierced the wall in left field and with Max Muncy on deck, he followed it up with a two-run home run to start the game. A third run by, Enrique Hernandez was immediately added on in the second inning putting the score at 3-0 Dodgers. The Nationals didn’t get their offense going until Juan Soto hit a RBI single that scored Anthony Rendon in the sixth inning. In the eighth inning, the Dodgers pulled Walker Buehler and put in Clayton Kershaw. What happened next changed the course of the game. He gave up back to back home runs and the National finished them off with a grand slam by Howie Kendrick.
