Washington Nationals Advance to NLCS With 7-3 Win Over The Los Angeles Dodgers

The Nationals/Montreal Expos franchise won a postseason series for only the second time, the first since the Expos beat Philadelphia in a 1981 Division Series caused by the mid season players’ strike.

Howie Kendrick hit a tie breaking grand slam off Joe Kelly in the 10th inning, and the Washington Nationals overcame a three-run deficit with a late rally to beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 7-3 Wednesday night, advancing to the National League Championship Series against the St. Louis Cardinals.

Three-time Cy Young Award winner, Clayton Kershaw, blew a 3-1 lead by allowing  consecutive homers to Anthony Rendon and Juan Soto in the eighth inning.

Kendrick fouled off a pitch, then hit a 97 mph fastball over the wall in center field for his second career slam. The other one was also a game-ender. It came in the 11th-inning, a line drive grand slam against San Francisco in August 2017. Center fielder Cody Bellinger chased the ball all the way to the wall, putting his arms up against the fence as he ran out of room in frustration.

Washington overcame a 19-31 start, finished 93-69, then rallied from a 3-0, eighth-inning deficit to beat Milwaukee 4-3 in the NL wild-card game.

RHP Anibal Sanchez, is the most likely candidate to start the NLCS opener against the Cardinals.