NATS CHOKE!!!

[ellisonz]

Cards score 4 in 9th, beat Nats 9-7, reach NLCS

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Doesn't matter how bad things look for the St. Louis Cardinals. Trailing by a bunch, down to their last strike, they simply stay calm and do what it takes to win.

Erasing an early six-run hole in Game 5 slowly but surely, the defending World Series champion Cardinals got a tying two-out, two-run single from Daniel Descalso and a go-ahead two-run single from Pete Kozma in the ninth inning and came all the way back to beat the Washington Nationals 9-7 Friday night and win their NL division series.

Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/baseball/mlb/gameflash/2012/10/12/43688/index.html#recap#ixzz299PgWJ6d

[xoom]

1. Cant believe what i saw!! One strike away and they couldn't finish!

[madinmaryland]

2. Fuck. We won't see TZ around here for a long while.

[TZ]

14. That smarts I agree

Btw I was on a cruise since last Friday and had no internets till now. And no this won't hurt the fan base I dont think- attendence was up 36%, TV ratings up 75% over 2011. With a healthy Stras i think many look forward to 2013, which after all is when many experts picked the Nats to "arrive". Lots of young talent...

[Jack Rabbit]

3. Boy, do I feel sorry for Drew Storen

I've heard of pitchers getting death threat for giving up a last inning winning run in a big game.

Remember, people, the sky is still blue and the grass is still green.

[ellisonz]

4. I was really shocked they didn't pull him...

...I mean it's the 9th inning of a decisive play-off game and he's blowing it. Not even a mound visit...

[CobaltBlue]

5. Perhaps . . .

Perhaps Washington Nationals received a payoff like last year's Texas Rangers.

The 2012 NL Championship Series, consisting of the last two years' winners of the World Series (2010 San Francisco Giants and 2011 St. Louis Cardinals) absolutely sucks.

New York Yankees is one of the two teams for the AL Championship Series. And Yankees (2009), Giants (2010), and Cardinals (2011) were the last three years' World Series champions.

This leaves only Detroit Tigers (which hasn't won the World Series since their fourth title in 1984) seeming fresh.

St. Louis Cardinals does not deserve to be in the pennant hunt. But in 2011, both Atlanta Braves and Philadelphia Phillies allowed for it to happen. In 2012, Pittsburgh Pirates and Washington Nationals have created that potential.

It will be really sickening if Cards win the World Series title for a second consecutive year much because four other National League clubs essentially handed their league pennant on a silver platter to the St. Louis Cardinals franchise.

I think the best news, of all the 2012 MLB postseason, is that Texas Rangers is nowhere near the pennant. I know I'm grateful. To both Oakland Athletics and Baltimore Orioles!

[Auggie]

6. The 2012 NLCS sucks? Teams with good rosters have been known to repeat as playoff contenders.

Get used to it.

[Upton]

8. A payoff?

I see you have only 1 total post in Sports..and after reading it, I suggest you keep it at that number and stick to politics.

[CobaltBlue]

15. Actually ...

I will continue to post here whenever I choose. And I will do so without regard for you having a reaction, let alone whether you approve.

So, to put it to you frankly, Upton: It doesn't matter whether you have anything to "suggest."

[Upton]

7. Just a terrible loss..

5 times Storen was within 1 strike of ending it and he couldn't get it done. He had 2 outs and a runner on 3rd with Molina up..the absolute worst that could happen in that situation is a HR and tie game...just lay it in there, don't give him a free pass.

Storen's big mistake, his big choke, was walking the tying and winning runs on base. After that, the hits weren't much of a surprise.

[KamaAina]

9. Luckily for us, it means we host, against a sub-90-win team.

But holy $#*! That sets the Natinals back by a decade, at least, in terms of building an actual fan base!

[El Supremo]

10. Just remember that if you are within one strike of eliminating them...

you are toast!

[SaintLouisBlues]

11. I'm amazed at all the choking against my Cardinals.

Within the last year, the Braves, Phillies, Brewers, Rangers, Braves again, and now the Expos have all choked.

The Cards were lucky not to be 0-162 this season.

[KamaAina]

12. "Braves again" needs a Barry Bonds-size *

Without a call worthy of the NFL scab refs, the Cards would be on the sixteenth green right about now.

[SaintLouisBlues]

13. The Cards were three runs ahead. Bravos never got the hit they needed, bad call or not.

All Hail the World Champs!

It must suck to hate the Cardinals these last 10-15 years.