The Astros and Yankees split the weekend and the Cardinals already find themselves in must-win mode. Sarah Langs fills in for Buster, who joins Sarah from the road to discuss Carlos Correa's big moment, Aaron Boone's managing of New York's bullpen and each team's path to winning the ALCS (17:16). Tim Kurkjian also preview's tonight's NLCS Game 3 matchup between Stephen Strasburg and Jack Flaherty (33:47). Plus, Todd Radom and "Cap Talk" (43:36).
Verlander, Strasburg, Scherzer, Tanaka, Flaherty and, yes, Gerrit Cole. These playoffs have had some great starting pitching. We rank the best of the best.
The St. Louis offense has been a no-show so far in the NLCS, and things won't get any easier against Stephen Strasburg in Game 3.
The Cardinals' offense is coming up almost all zeroes, but some of the manager's choices aren't helping.
VIDEO: Here is Aaron Boone's reaction when asked about Cardinals manager Mike Shildt saying that the ball is traveling around a four-and-a-half foot less in the playoffs.
Nationals LF Juan Soto, speaking in Spanish, said he thought for a brief second about diving for Paul Goldschmidt's line drive. "But I didn't wanna try it, just in case the ball goes by me and something worse happens. That was the tying run. ... We're in the playoffs. Any error can hurt."
Max Scherzer followed Anibal Sanchez's near no-hitter with a try of his own and the stingy Washington Nationals beat the St. Louis Cardinals 3-1 on Saturday for a 2-0 lead in the NL Championship Series.
The Nationals have won both road games to begin this NLCS, taking a commanding 2-0 series lead with three consecutive games following in DC. They held the Cardinals to only one run and four hits over a span of 18 innings.
Washington will head home two wins from clinching the franchise's first World Series appearance after Max Scherzer followed Anibal Sanchez's series-opening gem with a dominant pitching performance of his own in Saturday's 3-1 NLCS Game 2 victory against the Cardinals.
Mike Shildt let Adam Wainwright face the Nationals a fourth time through the order, and it cost him. Adam Eaton's one-out double in the eighth, on Wainwright's 99th pitch, provided two huge insurance runs. Sean Doolittle and Daniel Hudson will attempt to close this out.
Max Scherzer's day is over. Matt Adams pinch-hit in the top of the eighth and contributed a single. Scherzer and Anibal Sanchez combined in this series: 14 2/3 innings, 0 runs, 2 hits, 3 walks, 16 strikeouts.
Paul Goldschmidt's single carried with it an expected batting average of .740. At 108.1 mph, it was the hardest ball hit all day.
Paul Goldschmidt put an end to Max Scherzer's no-hit bid with a single to left to lead off the seventh inning. Goldy's hit is the first by a Cardinals starter in this series after St. Louis was limited to just Jose Martinez's pinch-hit single in Game 1.
Paul Goldschmidt broke up Max Scherzer's no-hitter with a line-drive single to left field to lead off the seventh inning. Man, it felt as if Juan Soto could've made an attempt at a diving catch there. The sun might have been an issue.
Max Scherzer is through six no-hit innings, less than 24 hours after Anibal Sanchez got through six no-hit innings. Scherzer has 10 strikeouts and two walks, but has exhausted 92 pitches. The Cardinals have swung and missed 16 times.
An amazing nugget by ESPN Stats & Info: Anibal Sanchez and Max Scherzer have put together back-to-back postseason starts of five no-hit innings. The only other time that ever happened was Games 1 and 2 of the 2013 ALCS ... with Anibal Sanchez and Max Scherzer.
For the second straight day, the Cardinals are being no-hit deep into an NLCS game. Max Scherzer's Game 2 bid is through five innings but his pitch count is at 78 so he'll likely need to some help from the bullpen.
Anibal Sanchez and Max Scherzer have joined themselves in October lore. Before the pair did so in this NLCS, the last pitchers to throw 5+ no-hit innings on consecutive days in the postseason was ... Anibal Sanchez and Max Scherzer for the 2013 Tigers.
The Cardinals say their analytics show that baseballs are traveling on average 4.5 fewer feet in the postseason than during the regular season.
The first home run of this NLCS belongs to Michael A. Taylor, who turned a cutter up in the zone from Adam Wainwright into a towering 377-foot home run to the left field bleachers that has the Nats on top early in Game 2.
David Freese, who was named MVP after his Game 6 home run kept the Cardinals alive in the 2011 World Series, has retired. He spent the final two seasons of his 11-year career with the Dodgers.
After missing NLCS Game 1 to attend the birth of his child, Daniel Hudson has been reinstated from the paternity list and will be available in the Nationals bullpen for Saturday's Game 2.
Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg and Patrick Corbin would be scary any time of year, but in October? The job of Cardinals hitters will be anything but easy.
| TEAM | W | L | PCT | GB | STRK |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St. Louis | 91 | 71 | .562 | - | W1 |
| Milwaukee | 89 | 73 | .549 | 2 | L3 |
| Chicago | 84 | 78 | .519 | 7 | L1 |
| Cincinnati | 75 | 87 | .463 | 16 | W2 |
| Pittsburgh | 69 | 93 | .426 | 22 | L2 |
