Game 5: Lohse vs. Shields
Both starting pitchers struggled early on. The Expos jumped out to a 3-run lead after
the top of the 3rd, but the Nationals came roaring back in the second half of the inning!
A walk, error and hit batsman (take that, Altuve!) lead to the bases quickly becoming
loaded with only 1 out, and Jay/Posey coming up. Faced with the top Nationals hitters in
a critical spot, I pull Lohse and put in All Star LHP Sean Doolittle. Jay smacks a single,
followed by another one from Posey before Doolittle is able to strike out the next two
hitters. We have a tie ballgame. It's 3-3 after 3!
The next two innings are uneventful, but Montreal scratches across the go-ahead run in
the top of the 6th. The Nationals offense comes back the very next half-inning! Big Josh
Collmenter strikes out the first two batters before Yangervis Solarte smacks a single to
shallow center. Back-to-back walks to Shin-Soo Choo and Alexei Ramirez load the bases in
front of Jose "The Hitman" Altuve! Uh oh. Collmenter needs to come out of there, but the
overused Expos bullpen has few options. Who to put in there in this critical situation? In
desperation, in comes reluctant hero, Ervin SantanHRA. At this point I am pretty sure I
know what happens next. On the very first pitch, Altuve smashes a BLAST of a line drive to
the gap in right center that looks to clear the bases until -- out of nowhere -- Superman
(I mean Lorenzo Cain) comes FLYING IN to rob Altuve of a certain triple!!!
The Expos go in order the next inning, but the Nats threaten again in their next hitting
period. With 2 on and 2 out, Desmond Jennings pinch hits for Luis Valbuena against lefty
(and homer-prone) Fernando Abad. Jennings promptly crushes the ball to right field! The
ball is headed straight for the top of the wall until -- once again -- Lorenzo Cain
appears out of nowhere to make a LEAPING GRAB!!!
If you think the Lorenzo Cain Show ended after those two highlight-reel, game-saving
defensive plays, you're wrong! Cain also smacked a 2-run single in the top of the 9th to
push the Expos lead to a much more comfortable 3-run lead, ushering in the ultimate Nationals
collapse in the process. "Non-save" Melancon was again terrible, and that, combined with
some defensive miscues, allowed Montreal to score 5 runs on only 4 hits. That was more than
enough to hold on for the game and series win. Expos 9, Nationals 3
For series MVP, I think Lorenzo Cain is the obvious choice. He didn't match Edwin
Encarnacion's 1.111 OPS, but he did drive in 4 runs with stellar defense, all while single-
handily ruining Shaun's birthday. Sorry, Shaun.
10/15/2015, Mtl15-Was15, Nationals Park
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E LOB DP
2015 Expos 0 1 2 0 0 1 0 0 5 9 14 1 7 0
2015 Nationals 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 8 2 12 2
Expos AB R H BI D T HR BB K SB CS IW HP SH SF AVG PO A E PB
Nava lf 5 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .238 0 0 0 0
Green ss 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1.000 0 0 0 0
Cain,L rf 5 1 1 2 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 .318 4 0 0 0
Cervelli c 4 2 1 2 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .250 8 0 0 0
Encarnacion dh 5 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .389 0 0 0 0
Davis,C 1b 4 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .278 8 0 0 0
Frazier 3b 5 1 3 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .316 0 3 1 0
Martin,L cf 5 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 .313 4 0 0 0
Zobrist 2b 4 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .267 1 2 0 0
Crawford,B ss 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 .100 1 0 0 0
Weeks,J ph 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .667 0 2 0 0
Bumgarner ph 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1.000 0 0 0 0
Cowgill lf 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 0
Lohse p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0 1 0 0
Doolittle p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 0
Collmenter p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 0
Santana,E p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 0
Abad p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 0
Rondon,H p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 1 0 0 0
39 9 14 7 2 0 0 3 8 0 0 0 0 1 0 27 8 1 0
Nationals AB R H BI D T HR BB K SB CS IW HP SH SF AVG PO A E PB
Altuve 2b 4 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 .350 2 3 0 0
Jay cf 4 0 1 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .278 1 1 0 0
Posey c 5 0 3 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .438 9 0 1 0
Joyce lf 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .167 1 0 0 0
Davis,R ph 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .333 1 0 0 0
Kelly,D ph 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .667 0 0 1 0
Napoli 1b 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 .053 8 1 0 0
Valbuena 3b 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .091 0 0 0 0
Jennings,De ph 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .125 1 0 0 0
Solarte dh 3 1 2 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .294 0 0 0 0
Choo rf 3 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .143 1 1 0 0
Ramirez,Al ss 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .125 2 5 0 0
Shields p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 1 1 0 0
Casilla,S p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0 1 0 0
Melancon p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 0
Kontos p 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 0
36 3 8 3 1 0 0 5 7 0 0 0 1 0 0 27 13 2 0
Expos INN H R ER BB K PCH STR BF HR IW HP WP DP ERA
Lohse 2.1 0 3 2 1 2 34 19 10 0 0 1 0 0 2.89
Doolittle 1.1 3 0 0 0 3 33 23 7 0 0 0 0 0 0.00
Collmenter W 1-0 2.0 1 0 0 3 2 39 21 10 0 0 0 0 0 1.35
Santana,E H 1 1.0 1 0 0 1 0 18 10 5 0 0 0 0 0 2.70
Abad H 2 0.2 1 0 0 0 0 14 10 3 0 0 0 0 0 0.00
Rondon,H S 2 1.2 2 0 0 0 0 21 13 7 0 0 0 0 0 0.00
9.0 8 3 2 5 7 159 96 42 0 0 1 0 0
Nationals INN H R ER BB K PCH STR BF HR IW HP WP DP ERA
Shields L 0-2 5.0 8 4 3 2 5 100 60 24 0 0 0 0 0 6.75
Casilla,S 3.0 2 0 0 1 1 30 21 10 0 0 0 0 2 5.40
Melancon 0.1 4 5 4 0 0 24 19 7 0 0 0 0 0 22.50
Kontos 0.2 0 0 0 0 2 9 6 2 0 0 0 0 0 3.86
9.0 14 9 7 3 8 163 106 43 0 0 0 0 2
Mtl: Weeks,J batted for Crawford,B in the 6th
Zobrist moved to ss in the 6th
Weeks,J moved to 2b in the 6th
Bumgarner batted for Weeks,J in the 9th
Green inserted at ss in the 9th
Zobrist moved to 2b in the 9th
Cowgill inserted at lf in the 9th
Was: Davis,R batted for Joyce in the 3rd
Davis,R moved to lf in the 4th
Kelly,D batted for Davis,R in the 7th
Jennings,De batted for Valbuena in the 7th
Jay moved to lf in the 8th
Kelly,D moved to 3b in the 8th
Jennings,De moved to cf in the 8th
GWRBI: Weeks,J
Temperature: 62, Sky: clear, Wind: in from right at 7 MPH.
10/15/2015, Mtl15-Was15, Nationals Park
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E LOB DP
2015 Expos 0 1 2 0 0 1 0 0 5 9 14 1 7 0
2015 Nationals 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 8 2 12 2
Expos -----A------ -----B------ -----C------ -----D------ -----E------
Nava lf 1>k 63.1-2 S.2-3 6 S.2-3;1-2
Green ss
Cain,L rf 8 k k 7>43 note 1
Cervelli c 43 D.2-H 5>63 W note 2
Encarnacion dh 2>31 note 3 7 143/gdp 63.3-H;1-2
Davis,C 1b D W k 8>63 e5.2-H;B-2
Frazier 3b S.2-H;B-2 note 4 6>S 8 Kontos
k
Martin,L cf 9 4>k Casilla,S k k
S.1-2
Zobrist 2b 7 S 63/gdp.2-3 9>Melancon
S
Crawford,B ss 3>W 14/SH.1-2
Weeks,J ph S.3-H
Bumgarner ph S/b.1-2
Cowgill lf
1: S.3-H;2-H;1-3;B-2 2: FC.3-H;2-3;B-1 3: S.2-H(9e2);B-2 4: S.2xH(82);1-2
Nationals -----A------ -----B------ -----C------ -----D------ -----E------
Altuve 2b 1>8 note 1 5>53 Santana,E 53
9
Jay cf 6 Doolittle W 7>9 9>43
note 2
Posey c 8 S.3-H;1-2 k S S
Joyce lf 2>8
Davis,R ph k 2/fl
Kelly,D ph 46/f.B-1 S.1-2
Napoli 1b k k 6>k W.1-2 8.2-3
Valbuena 3b 13 4>k 9 Abad
Jennings,De ph 9 1/g
Solarte dh 3>W D S 8>43
Choo rf e5.1-2;B-1 43.2-3 W.1-2 S
Ramirez,Al ss k Collmenter W.2-3;1-2 Rondon,H
3 53.1-2
1: HBP.2-3;1-2 2: S.3-H;2-H;1-3
Expos IN OUT ER Nationals IN OUT ER
Lohse A1 B1 2 Shields A1 C6 3 L 0-2
Doolittle B2 B8 0 Casilla,S C7 D7 0
Collmenter B9 C9 0 W 1-0 Melancon D8 E5 4
Santana,E D1 D5 0 H 1 Kontos E6 E7 0
Abad D6 D8 0 H 2
Rondon,H D9 E6 0 S 2
10/15/2015, Mtl15-Was15, Nationals Park
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E LOB DP
2015 Expos 0 1 2 0 0 1 0 0 5 9 14 1 7 0
2015 Nationals 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 8 2 12 2
Score O Rnr BS Event
----- - --- -- -----
************** Top of the 1st inning, Expos batting
0-0 0 --- 22 Nava struck out (BCBSC)
0-0 1 --- 32 Cain,L flied out to center (CBBBFX)
0-0 2 --- 11 Cervelli grounded out to second (BFX)
************** Bottom of the 1st inning, Nationals batting
0-0 0 --- 31 Altuve flied out to center (CBBBX)
0-0 1 --- 00 Jay popped out to short (X)
0-0 2 --- 21 Posey flied out to center (BFBX)
************** Top of the 2nd inning, Expos batting
0-0 0 --- 32 Encarnacion grounded out to first (BFBFBX)
0-0 1 --- 01 Davis,C grounded a double down the first base line (SX)
0-0 1 -2- 11 Frazier grounded a single up the middle, Davis,C scored,
Frazier to second (BCX)
1-0 1 -2- 22 Martin,L popped out to right (BCCFFBX)
1-0 2 -2- 22 Zobrist flied out to left (BBCFX)
************** Bottom of the 2nd inning, Nationals batting
1-0 0 --- 10 Joyce flied out to center (BX)
1-0 1 --- 02 Napoli struck out (CCS)
1-0 2 --- 20 Valbuena grounded out to the mound (BBX)
************** Top of the 3rd inning, Expos batting
1-0 0 --- 31 Crawford,B walked (BCBBB)
1-0 0 1-- 01 Nava grounded out to short, Crawford,B to second (CX)
1-0 1 -2- 22 Cain,L struck out (FBCFFBS)
1-0 2 -2- 11 Cervelli doubled deep to center, Crawford,B scored (BCX)
2-0 2 -2- 01 Encarnacion lined a single to shallow right, Cervelli
scored on an error by the catcher Posey, Encarnacion to
second (CX)
3-0 2 -2- 31 Davis,C walked (BSBBB)
3-0 2 12- 11 Frazier lined a single up the middle, Encarnacion out at
home, Davis,C to second (CBX)
************** Bottom of the 3rd inning, Nationals batting
3-0 0 --- 31 Solarte walked (BBBCB)
3-0 0 1-- 12 Solarte to second on an error by the third baseman
Frazier, Choo to first (BCFX)
3-0 0 12- 12 Ramirez,Al struck out (FFBFS)
3-0 1 12- 01 Altuve was hit by a pitch, Solarte to third, Choo to
second (CH)
Doolittle now pitching
3-0 1 123 22 Jay grounded a single between first and second, Solarte
scored, Choo scored, Altuve to third (BCFBFX)
3-2 1 1-3 01 Posey lined a single to shallow center, Altuve scored,
Jay to second (CX)
Davis,R pinch hitting for Joyce
3-3 1 12- 02 Davis,R struck out (CCS)
3-3 2 12- 32 Napoli struck out (BFCBFB>F>S)
************** Top of the 4th inning, Expos batting
Davis,R moved to left field
3-3 0 --- 22 Martin,L struck out (BCCBS)
3-3 1 --- 20 Zobrist grounded a single between third and short (BBX)
3-3 1 1-- 00 Crawford,B sacrifice bunted to the mound, Zobrist to
second (Xb)
3-3 2 -2- 22 Nava reached on an infield single to third, Zobrist to
third (BFFBX)
3-3 2 1-3 32 Cain,L struck out (BBFFFB>S)
************** Bottom of the 4th inning, Nationals batting
3-3 0 --- 32 Valbuena struck out (CBBCBS)
3-3 1 --- 22 Solarte grounded a double down the first base line (BFCBX)
3-3 1 -2- 02 Choo grounded out to second, Solarte to third (CFX)
Collmenter now pitching
3-3 2 --3 21 Ramirez,Al popped out to first (BBCX)
************** Top of the 5th inning, Expos batting
3-3 0 --- 11 Cervelli grounded out to short (CBX)
3-3 1 --- 22 Encarnacion flied out to left (BSBFX)
3-3 2 --- 12 Davis,C struck out (SBFS)
************** Bottom of the 5th inning, Nationals batting
3-3 0 --- 00 Altuve grounded out to third (X)
3-3 1 --- 31 Jay walked (BBBCB)
3-3 1 1-- 12 Posey struck out (SBFC)
3-3 2 1-- 21 Davis,R popped out to the catcher (BCBX)
************** Top of the 6th inning, Expos batting
3-3 0 --- 11 Frazier grounded a single up the middle (BCX)
Casilla,S now pitching
3-3 0 1-- 00 Martin,L grounded a single between third and short,
Frazier to second (>X)
3-3 0 12- 12 Zobrist grounded into a double play, Ramirez,Al to
Napoli, Frazier to third (CCBX)
Weeks,J pinch hitting for Crawford,B
3-3 2 --3 12 Weeks,J reached on an infield single to second, Frazier
scored (CFBX)
4-3 2 1-- 11 Nava popped out to short (BSX)
************** Bottom of the 6th inning, Nationals batting
Zobrist moved to shortstop
Weeks,J moved to second base
4-3 0 --- 02 Napoli struck out (CSC)
4-3 1 --- 00 Valbuena flied out to right (X)
4-3 2 --- 11 Solarte lined a single to shallow center (FBX)
4-3 2 1-- 32 Choo walked, Solarte to second (BCCBB>F>F>B)
4-3 2 12- 32 Ramirez,Al walked, Solarte to third, Choo to second
(BBCFB>B)
Santana,E now pitching
4-3 2 123 02 Altuve lined out to right (CSX)
************** Top of the 7th inning, Expos batting
4-3 0 --- 12 Cain,L grounded out to second (SBCX)
4-3 1 --- 32 Cervelli walked (BBBCCB)
4-3 1 1-- 00 Encarnacion grounded into a double play, Casilla,S to
Altuve to Napoli (X)
************** Bottom of the 7th inning, Nationals batting
4-3 0 --- 11 Jay flied out to right (BFX)
4-3 1 --- 21 Posey grounded a single between third and short (BCBX)
Kelly,D pinch hitting for Davis,R
4-3 1 1-- 12 Kelly,D grounded to second, forcing Posey at second,
Kelly,D to first (CBSX)
4-3 2 1-- 30 Napoli walked, Kelly,D to second (BBBB)
Abad now pitching
Jennings,De pinch hitting for Valbuena
4-3 2 12- 02 Jennings,De flied out to right (CFFX)
************** Top of the 8th inning, Expos batting
Jay moved to left field
Kelly,D moved to third base
Jennings,De moved to center field
4-3 0 --- 01 Davis,C grounded out to short (SX)
4-3 1 --- 00 Frazier flied out to center (X)
4-3 2 --- 12 Martin,L struck out (CFBS)
************** Bottom of the 8th inning, Nationals batting
4-3 0 --- 22 Solarte grounded out to second (CSBBX)
4-3 1 --- 22 Choo lined a single to shallow left (BBSCX)
Rondon,H now pitching
4-3 1 1-- 01 Ramirez,Al grounded out to third, Choo to second (FX)
4-3 2 -2- 11 Altuve grounded out to third (BCX)
************** Top of the 9th inning, Expos batting
Melancon now pitching
4-3 0 --- 02 Zobrist lined a single to shallow center (CSX)
Bumgarner pinch hitting for Weeks,J
4-3 0 1-- 00 Bumgarner bunted for a single, Zobrist to second (Xb)
4-3 0 12- 01 Nava reached on an infield single to short, Zobrist to
third, Bumgarner to second (CX)
4-3 0 123 22 Cain,L lined a single up the middle, Zobrist scored,
Bumgarner scored, Nava to third, Cain,L to second
(BFBCX)
6-3 0 -23 12 Cervelli reached on a fielder's choice to third, Nava
scored, Cain,L to third, Cervelli to first (CCBX)
7-3 0 1-3 12 Encarnacion grounded out to short, Cain,L scored,
Cervelli to second (CBFX)
8-3 1 -2- 12 Cervelli scored, Davis,C to second on an error by the
third baseman Kelly,D (CBCFX)
Kontos now pitching
9-3 1 -2- 12 Frazier struck out (SCBS)
9-3 2 -2- 22 Martin,L struck out (BFBFS)
************** Bottom of the 9th inning, Nationals batting
Green now playing shortstop
Zobrist moved to second base
Cowgill now playing left field
9-3 0 --- 21 Jay grounded out to second (CBBX)
9-3 1 --- 00 Posey grounded a single to left (X)
9-3 1 1-- 31 Kelly,D lined a single to shallow left, Posey to second
(SBBBX)
9-3 1 12- 21 Napoli flied out to center, Posey to third (CBBX)
9-3 2 1-3 01 Jennings,De grounded out to the mound (FX)