Playoff Gameday Thread #10: D-day in the NLDS

5:08 pm: Chicago Cubs @ Washington Nationals (2-2)

Kyle Hendricks (1-0, 0.00) vs. Gio Gonzalez (0-0, 5.40). It’s sudden death time, for both Chicago and Washington. This has been a low scoring game, averaging only a total of five runs per game, with the Nationals having outscored the Cubs 12-8, the difference to this point being Michael Taylor’s eighth-inning grand-slam in Game 4. While Gonzalez will start the game for them, we could possibly see Max Scherzer toss a couple of innings in relief, this being an “all hands on deck” situation. Though given the apparently negative impact a relief outing may have had on Robbie Ray, perhaps Nats’ manager Dusty Baker might want to think twice before sending his ace out there...

The Cubs have actually had the slightly better OPS, but both teams have been very much handcuffed by the opposing pitchers. Chicago is batting just .159, with a .514 OPS, while Washington is hitting an even more anemic .130 with an OPS of just .493. If that’s sustained, it’ll be interesting to see the last time a team won a post-season series with such a low OPS!