October 12th, 2019 at 8:00 am 
by Ron Cervenka Let’s face it, getting past the pain of the Dodgers being knocked out of the 2019 postseason in the first round is going to take some time for many (most) Dodger fans and nothing that anyone can say or do is going to change that.
However, if there is one thing – even if only slightly – that may … may help towards that end, it would be for the team that abruptly ended the Dodgers franchise-record-setting 106-game winning season, the Washington Nationals, to go on to win the 2019 World Series.
I know, I know, it might seem ‘too soon’ (as the kids today say) to make such a bold proclamation; what, with Game-5 of the NLDS still only three days removed. But at the very least, it would be somewhat reassuring – even if only slightly – to know that the Dodgers got beat by the eventual World Champions.
To be perfectly honest, the group of guys on second-year Nationals manager Dave Martinez’s playoff roster are a great bunch of guys, especially 36-year-old / 14-year MLB veteran (and former Dodger) Howie Kendrick, whose 10-inning grand slam home run on Wednesday night sealed the Dodgers fate and abruptly ended their season.
(Video capture courtesy of TBS)
And then there’s Aníbal Sánchez.
Even though the 35-year-old Maracay, Venezuela native, who was initially signed by the Red Sox in 2001 as an amateur free agent and who has played for four major league teams during his 14-year combined 108-108 / 3.98 ERA MLB career, did not figure in the decision in Game-3 of the NLDS at Nationals Park, a game which the Dodgers won rather handily by a score of 10-4, Sánchez was nothing short of brilliant in his 5.0-inning start.
The veteran right-hander limited the Dodgers to only one run on four hits while walking two and striking out nine. Again, we’re talking only five innings pitched here. That lone run came on a Max Muncy solo home run in the fifth inning, and at one point during the game, Sánchez retired 11 of 13 Dodgers batters, including striking out the side in the top of the second.
But none of this compares to what Sánchez did on Friday night in Game-1 of the 2019 National League Championship Series against the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium. The 6′-0″ / 205-pound hard-throwing right-hander took a no-hitter into the eighth inning, finally allowing a single to Cardinals pinch hitter José Martínez with two outs. After that lone hit and understandably so at 103 pitches in Game-1 of a best-of-seven series, Nats manager Dave Martinez pulled his veteran right-hander to an impressive applause by baseball-savvy Cardinals fans.
(Video capture courtesy of TBS)
Sánchez’s near NLCS no-no was not the first time he has been there – done that. The extremely popular Nationals righty did toss a no-hitter against the Arizona Diamondbacks on September 6, 2006 while a member of the Miami Marlins at Marlins Park. He is also now the only player in MLB history to pitch six-plus innings of no-hit ball twice during the postseason.
Yeah, I’m still grumpy over what they did to our beloved Dodgers in the NLDS, but you’ve got to admit that there is something special about this 2019 Washington Nationals team.
…kind of like there was something special about the 1988 Dodgers, if you get my drift.
“In a year that has been so improbable, the impossible has happened!” – Vin Scully
Play Ball!
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It does hurt to not be able to go past the first round. It does prove what got you there means nothing and how you play after you get there is the only thing that counts.
I didn’t want the Nats to be our opponent because of the fact that it was sort of like, “it was about time they moved forward”.
Well its over now, regardless of how the Nats end up in the postseason, even though we don’t mined too much if we’re beaten by a World Champion.
Yet again, you completely missed the point, Joe.