Tyler Moore and Drew Storen Save the Day in St. Louis
Nationals staff ace LHP Gio Gonzalez struggled with his control throughout, walking seven batters through 5.0 innings, while RF Jayson Werth left the bases loaded twice. The Nationals lineup, which struck out thirteen times in the game, was baffled by Cards' starter, RHP Adam Wainwright, who surrendered just one earned run and collected 10 strikeouts in 5.2 innings. Gonzalez would keep Washington in contention, however, as he allowed only two runs, both earned.
The Nats scored first in the 2nd inning on a line drive RBI single to left field by C Kurt Suzuki, acquired at the beginning of August from the Oakland Athletics in exchange for Nationals' catching prospect, David Freitas who was hitting .271 with 22 doubles for the P-Nats before the trade. St. Louis responded with two runs in the home half of the 2nd frame on a wild pitch by Gonzalez and a sacrifice fly off the bat of CF Jon Jay. The score would remain in favor of the Cards 2-1 until the top of the 8th inning.
Enter pinch-hitter, Tyler Moore. With two outs and runners in scoring position at second and third, in his very first playoff plate appearance, "T-Mo," the 2010 Carolina League MVP, delivered in the clutch. Cards southpaw specialist Marc Rzepczynski saw his 2-2 offering softly lined into shallow right field by the rookie in front of Carlos Beltran to drive in the tying and go-ahead runs. The two-RBI base knock by Moore would fuel the Nationals to an eventual one-run victory.
After Washington RHP Tyler Clippard pitched a scoreless 8th inning, Nationals Manager Davey Johnson turned to his closer, RHP Drew Storen, an inning later in a save situation. The former first round draft pick who was a spectacle in Woodbridge, VA during the 2009 season would sit down the Cardinals in order on flyouts by Jay and Beltran, before striking out LF Matt Holliday swinging to the end the game.
Moore told MLB.com, "I'm a blessed man. It's pretty unbelievable. I'm just happy for us as a team to get this first one out of the way."
Storen put the win in prospective, remarking, "That's playoff baseball. Nothing goes to plan in the playoffs. The good teams are the ones that can handle it and really grind it out and get the victory. That's what we expect. We don't expect it to go by the book."
1B Tyler Moore (16th Round, 2008) broke out with the Carolina League Nationals in 2010, hitting .269 and cranking 43 doubles, 31 home runs, and 111 RBIs. Moore was named the 2010 Washington Nationals Player of the Year after becoming the first Minor Leaguer in Washington Nationals history to amass at least 30 HRs and 100 RBIs in a single season.
RHP Drew Storen (1st Round, #10 Overall, 2009) was lights out for the P-Nats' bullpen during the 2009 season. In seven relief outings, Storen went 1-0 with a 1.80 ERA, while fanning 11 batters in 10.0 IP and notching a pair of saves. Storen surrendered just seven hits and two walks out of the Potomac 'pen. In 2012, the Nationals' fireman was 1-0 with a 3.00 ERA in five rehab appearances for the P-Nats.