NLDS Game 1: Everybody Panik! Giants fend off Nationals in 3-2 victory
The San Francisco Giants got just enough offense, along with a steady effort from right-hander Jake Peavy and the bullpen in a 3-2 victory in Game 1 of the National League Division Series. Bryce Harper and Asdrubal Cabrera each hit a solo home run for the Nats. Giants pitchers combined to allow just six hits. Stephen Strasburg didn’t dominate, but he was all right, allowing two runs — one earned — and eight hits over five-plus innings. He struck out two.
• Rookie infielder Joe Panik has the opposite of the perfect last name for the postseason — Joe Serene would be preferable — but he continued to contribute for the Giants in the postseason, going 2 for 5 with a triple, a run and an RBI. He came in having gone 3 for 5 in the wild-card game, giving him a team record for most hits in his first two postseason games.
• Jake Peavy had kind of a funky stat line, but he kept the Giants off the board for 5 2/3 innings, and he also provided some good motivational material.
• Harper and Cabrera got the Nationals offense going with back-to-back home runs in the seventh after their team was trailing 3-0.
• Nationals manager Matt Williams made a questionable decision to stay with left-handed batter Adam LaRoche with two runners aboard in the sixth after the Giants brought in lefty reliever Javier Lopez. LaRoche worked a walk, but if Ryan Zimmerman had been used instead, perhaps the Nats would have scratched across a run or more.
• Ian Desmond went 0 for 4 with two strikeouts and stranded five runners.
One pitch after Harper reached via infield single for Washington’s first hit in the fifth, Wilson Ramos hit into a 4-6-3 double play. Peavy got pumped up with gratitude.
The Giants have won nine straight postseason games, going back to the World Series in 2012.
Harper turned around a 97 mph fastball by Hunter Strickland and hit a ball that traveled approximately to West Virginia, getting the Nationals on the board in the seventh. Actually, it reached the upper deck at Nationals Park, which rare and impressive enough.
Tim Hudson tries to help the Giants take a 2-0 series lead back to the Bay on Saturday. He opposes Jordan Zimmermann. The first pitch is scheduled for 5:37 p.m. ET.
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David Brown is an editor for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] and follow him on Twitter!
