[jg2977]

Mike: Alright, Francesa and Russo here, and where do you even start with this one? Thirteen to twelve, ten innings, wild card finale, errors everywhere, homers flying out like it’s batting practice—
Mad Dog: —MIKE, it was a zoo! A ZOO! You couldn’t keep score with a pencil, you needed a typewriter! Twelve runs, thirteen runs, back and forth, nobody could get anybody out!
Mike: This game had absolutely everything. And in the end, it’s the St. Louis Cardinals who survive it, win it 13–12, take the series, and now they get Atlanta. Same Braves everybody’s chasing every year.
Mad Dog: And lemme tell ya somethin’, the guy of the series is Jose Dominguez, no question. Big hit after big hit, two homers in this game, including the dagger in the tenth inning. Four homers in the series! That’s star stuff, Mike!
Mike: He carried them when it mattered. And St. Louis—you know, they didn’t play a clean game. Errors, shaky pitching, bullpen wobbling—
Mad Dog: —Nobody played clean, Mike! Washington kicked it around too! FOUR errors! Four! In a playoff game! You can’t do that! You cannot do that!
Mike: Exactly. And that’s the story for the Nationals. They scored twelve runs at home and still couldn’t close it. Celauro had five hits, five! They had traffic all day long, nineteen hits—
Mad Dog: —And they still lose! Because every time they grabbed momentum, boom! Home run. Dominguez, Gonzago, McLaren, Martinez—everybody’s hittin’ the seats!
Mike: Fifth inning alone, seven runs for St. Louis. That’s supposed to be the knockout.
Mad Dog: And Washington comes right back! That’s what made it crazy! They wouldn’t go away! Nationals Park was loud, fans thinkin’ they’re goin’ to the Division Series—
Mike: —And then the tenth inning happens. Dominguez again. Two outs. Boom. Season-changer.
Mad Dog: That’s the difference, Mike. One team had a guy who wanted the moment. Washington had chances—bases loaded, runners everywhere—and they just couldn’t get the big pitch or the big out.
Mike: So now St. Louis moves on, battered but breathing, and Washington goes home sick to their stomachs thinking, How did we lose a game where we scored twelve?
Mad Dog: Brutal loss. Absolutely brutal. That’s a winter-long loss right there.
Mike: And that’s October baseball. Survive and advance—or pack it up. St. Louis survives. Washington doesn’t.