Cardinals, Nationals move on to NLCS

National League Division Series


The St. Louis Cardinals put up a 10-spot in the first inning today and cruised to a 13-1 win in Game 5 over the Braves in Atlanta. It was the most runs ever scored in an opening inning of postseason play. No home runs were hit in the first inning, just a lot of everything -- including walks, infield hits, errors, mixed in with a double here and a double there. The Cardinals batted around and then some. Mike Foltynewicz (1-1) allowed seven runs. Max Fried replaced Foltynewicz, allowing three runs in the first and another run in the second inning. Luke Jackson followed, allowing two more runs in the third.

In the meantime, St. Louis starter Jack Flaherty (1-1) cruised to an easy win with six innings of work, allowing one run on just four hits. He threw 104 pitches and struck out eight.

The Cardinals move on to face the Nationals in NLCS.

Yes. The NATIONALS!

In Los Angeles, Howie Kendrick hit a grand slam home run tonight in the top of the 10th inning to give Washington a 7-3 win in Game 5 and send the Nationals to the NLCS to face the St. Louis Cardinals.

The Dodgers led 3-0 early on home runs from Max Muncy and Enrique Hernandez, but the Nationals chipped away at the lead with a run in the sixth inning and tied the game in the eighth on solo homers from Anthony Rendon and Juan Soto -- both home runs off Clayton Kershaw, who had replaced starter Walker Buehler.

Stephen Strasburg started for Nationals and went six innings. Daniel Hudson gets the win in relief and Joe Kelly suffers the loss, giving up the grand slam to Kendrick.

You gotta love baseball.