Nearly every division series game on Friday was a surprise to many, including the Giants victory over the Nationals in Washington. Jake Peavy outlasted Stephen Strasburg to give the Giants their ninth consecutive postseason win.
Peavy's sixth career postseason start spoiled Stephen Strasburg's first. The Giants' right-hander lasted 5 2/3 innings and only let up two hits and three walks in the team's 3-2 win on Friday afternoon. Strasburg surrendered eight hits and two runs (one earned) in five innings of work.
The Giants got to Strasburg by the third inning, when second baseman Joe Panik singled to drive in Travis Ishikawa. Brandon Belt followed suit an inning later and drove in Hunter Pence with a single to right field. Peavy finally allowed his first hit of the game to Bryce Harper in the fifth inning, but the Nationals were unable to score until the seventh after Peavy was taken out. Harper homered off of reliever Hunter Strickland, and two batters later Asdrubal Cabrera did the same, but the Nats still trailed 3-2 because Buster Posey's infield single in the top half of the inning scored Panik.
After Strickland surrendered two runs on two hits, relievers Jeremy Affeldt, Sergio Romo and Santiago Casilla recorded the next seven outs for San Francisco and sealed the win. The Nationals were only able to register six hits and draw four walks in the loss, which put them in a bad spot because they dropped the first NLDS game at home, where Strasburg does his best work (9-3 with a 2.56 ERA in 18 starts). Washington hasn't won a postseason game since Game 4 of the NLDS against the St. Louis Cardinals back on October 11, 2012.
Game 2 will take place at Nationals Park on Saturday at 5:37 p.m. The Giants are looking to earn their tenth consecutive postseason win, which would tie for second-best all time with the 1989-1990 Oakland Athletics and 1937-1941 New York Yankees. They'll send Tim Hudson to the mound, who is 2-0 against the Nationals in 2014 with a 1.46 ERA.
Jordan Zimmermann will take the hill to face Hudson and he'll have a lot of momentum on his side. Zimmermann's last outing was against the Marlins on Sunday during which he threw the first no-hitter in the history of the Nationals' franchise. The right-hander faced the Giants once this season back in August, lasting eight innings and giving up seven hits and two earned runs in a 6-2 win.
The Nationals are desperate for a win, and they're surely looking to rebound after they witnessed the Angels drop two at home to the Royals and the Orioles take a 2-0 lead on the Tigers.
