{"id":4851,"date":"2012-10-08T09:52:42","date_gmt":"2012-10-08T13:52:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/?p=4851"},"modified":"2013-10-02T10:57:53","modified_gmt":"2013-10-02T14:57:53","slug":"nlds-game-1-recap-gonzalez-the-escape-artist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nationalsarmrace.com\/?p=4851","title":{"rendered":"NLDS Game 1 Recap: Gonzalez the Escape Artist"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The team escaped Game 1 with a victory despite Gonzalez’s struggles. Photo Joy Absalon\/US Presswire via usatoday.com<\/p><\/div>\n

Nats take Game 1 of the NLDS 3-2<\/a>.<\/p>\n

You know your pitcher is having a rough day when the score line reads “2-0-0.”\u00a0 As in, 2 runs, 0 hits and 0 errors.\u00a0 That was the score at the end of the second, an inning in which Nats starter Gio Gonzalez<\/strong> had walked no less than four batters, thrown a wild pitch and given up a sac fly for the second run despite giving up zero hits.<\/p>\n

TBS broadcast a stat showing Gonzalez’s ERA on various days of rest; the key stat was that he had a 5.80 ERA when he had more than 5 days rest.\u00a0 His days rest entering Game one of the playoffs?\u00a0 Nine days.\u00a0 He last threw in Philadelphia on September 27th.<\/p>\n

Being able to rest your starters and “set up” your post season pitching rotation can be a blessing and a curse.\u00a0 Today it was a curse; clearly Gonzalez was overthrowing, missing his spots, and his pitching line showed it.\u00a0 He didn’t trust his curve early, was relying solely on his fast ball and couldn’t locate it to his desire.\u00a0 To his credit he settled down for a couple innings, got a couple of very timely plays in the field, and exited having given up a sole meaningless hit to go with seven walks in 5 innings.\u00a0 To me it looked like he was over-throwing, that he was “too strong.”\u00a0 Starters are creatures of habit; throw one day, rest the 2nd, toss the 3rd, bullpen work the 4th, rest the 5th and then repeat.\u00a0 When too many extra days are thrown in, younger guys can get off schedule.<\/p>\n

In the first inning I thought perhaps Gonzalez was trying to “save” his curve for later in the game; a great strategy for professional pitchers who can do it.\u00a0 Instead of showing guys your whole arsenal the first time through the order, pound them with fastballs and make them hit your pitch.\u00a0 Then, in their 2nd and 3rd at bats mix in curves and off-speed stuff as out pitches as needed.\u00a0 If you play your cards right, you can work through each hitter’s 3 at-bats keeping them off-balance and suddenly you’re deep into the 6th or 7th inning as a starter.\u00a0\u00a0 As it turned out, he wasn’t trusting his curve at all, and suddenly he was pressing to hit his spots.<\/p>\n

Craig Stammen<\/strong> escaped an incredible jam in the bottom of the 7th, having loaded the bases with none out.\u00a0 Usually that situation has a run expectancy of somewhere greater than 2 runs<\/a> but the Nats defense came through; an Ian Desmond<\/strong> force out at the plate for the first out then a clutch 5-4-3 double play to end the inning.\u00a0 Despite Tyler Moore<\/strong>‘s late inning heroics, this was the key of the win.<\/p>\n

Adam Wainwright<\/strong> showed exactly why he’s a Cy Young candidate when he’s healthy; his curve-ball was absolutely fantastic on the night.\u00a0 The already-strike-out prone Nats fanned 10 times, many times on a fantastic curve that Wainwright was controlling and commanding to the outside corner.\u00a0 I was surprised when he got the hook despite being on 100 pitches; as it turned out he probably wasn’t going to finish 7 complete regardless.\u00a0 You can’t really fault the bullpen management by Cards manager Mike Matheny<\/strong>; he had his 8th inning guy on the mound (Mitchell Boggs<\/strong>) and the Nats beat him.<\/p>\n

Other thoughts from watching the game:<\/p>\n