Cardinals erase 6-run deficit to beat Nationals

Washington • Doesn't matter how bad things look for the St. Louis Cardinals. Trailing by a bunch, down to their last strike, they simply stay calm and do what it takes to win.

Erasing an early six-run hole in Game 5 slowly but surely, the defending World Series champion Cardinals got a tying two-out, two-run single from Daniel Descalso and a go-ahead two-run single from Pete Kozma in the ninth inning and came all the way back to beat the Washington Nationals 9-7 Friday night and win their NL division series.

It was the largest comeback ever in a winner-take-all postseason game, according to STATS LLC. No other club in this sort of ultimate pressure situation had come back from more than four down.

"We knew we had a lot of game left after they scored six. Nobody went up there trying to hit a six-run homer," said Descalso, whose solo shot in the eighth made it 6-5. "We needed to scratch and claw and get ourselves back in the game."

They did, barely: Descalso's saving single ticked off the glove of diving shortstop Ian Desmond.

First-year manager Mike Matheny and the wild-card Cardinals, the last team to clinch a playoff spot this year, will open the NL championship series at San Francisco on Sunday.

The Nationals, meanwhile, led the majors with 98 wins in 2012 but lost without All-Star ace Stephen Strasburg. The team said he'd thrown enough this year and didn't put him on the playoff roster.

Down 7-5 with two outs in the ninth against Nationals closer Drew Storen, the Cardinals twice were a strike away from losing. But Storen walked both of those batters, Yadier Molina and David Freese, setting the stage for the unheralded Descalso and Kozma — Nationals manager Davey Johnson even called the rookie "Cosmos" before Game 4 — to come through.

When Cardinals closer Jason Motte got Ryan Zimmerman to pop out to second base a half-hour past midnight, the Cardinals streamed from the visiting dugout for a rather muted celebration, all in all.

This was nothing new to them.

Over the past two years, St. Louis is 6-0 when facing elimination, including victories in Games 6 and 7 of the 2011 World Series against Texas. Cardinals 9,Nationals 7

St. Louis AB R H BI BB SO Avg.

Jay cf 4 1 0 0 1 1 .200

Beltran rf 3 2 3 0 2 0 .444

Holliday lf 5 0 1 2 0 1 .190

T.Cruz c 0 0 0 0 0 0 —-

Craig 1b 4 0 0 1 1 2 .316

Y.Molina c 3 0 0 0 2 0 .118

1-Chmbrs pr-lf 0 1 0 0 0 0 —-

Freese 3b 4 1 2 0 1 2 .421

Descalso 2b 5 3 3 3 0 1 .316

Kozma ss 5 0 2 2 0 0 .250

Wainwright p 1 0 0 0 0 1 .000

J.Kelly p 0 0 0 0 0 0 —-

a-S.Robinsn ph 0 1 0 0 1 0 .000

Rosenthal p 0 0 0 0 0 0 —-

b-Schmaker ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .000

Mujica p 0 0 0 0 0 0 —-

Boggs p 0 0 0 0 0 0 —-

d-M.Crpntr ph 1 0 0 0 0 1 .000

Motte p 1 0 0 0 0 1 .000

Totals 37 9 11 8 8 10

Wash. AB R H BI BB SO Avg.

Werth rf 5 1 1 0 0 0 .238

Harper cf 5 2 2 2 0 2 .130

Zimmermn 3b 5 2 2 2 0 1 .381

LaRoche 1b 4 1 1 0 0 2 .176

Morse lf 4 1 2 2 0 1 .263

Desmond ss 4 0 0 0 0 2 .368

Espinosa 2b 3 0 0 0 1 1 .067

K.Suzuki c 4 0 3 1 0 0 .235

G.Gonzalez p 2 0 0 0 0 1 .000

Stammen p 0 0 0 0 0 0 —-

S.Burnett p 0 0 0 0 0 0 —-

c-Bernadna ph 1 0 0 0 0 1 .000

E.Jackson p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000

Clippard p 0 0 0 0 0 0 —-

e-Tracy ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .000

Storen p 0 0 0 0 0 0 —-

Totals 38 7 11 7 1 11

St. Louis 000 120 114 — 9 11 0

Washington 303 000 010 — 7 11 0

a-walked for J.Kelly in the 5th. b-grounded out for Rosenthal in the 6th. c-struck out for S.Burnett in the 6th. d-struck out for Boggs in the 8th. e-popped out for Clippard in the 8th. 1-ran for Y.Molina in the 9th. LOB—St. Louis 9, Washington 5. 2B—Beltran 2 (3), Holliday (1), Descalso (1), Werth (1), Zimmerman (1). 3B—Harper (1). HR—Descalso (2), off Clippard Zimmerman (2), off Wainwright Harper (1), off Wainwright Morse (1), off Wainwright. RBIs—Holliday 2 (4), Craig (3), Descalso 3 (6), Kozma 2 (5), Harper 2 (2), Zimmerman 2 (4), Morse 2 (2), K.Suzuki (2). SB—Descalso (1). CS—Freese (1). Runners left in scoring position—St. Louis 4 (Freese 2, Y.Molina 2) Washington 2 (Bernadina, Tracy). RISP—St. Louis 3 for 14 Washington 4 for 9. Runners moved up—Holliday 2, Y.Molina.

St. Louis IP H R ER BB SO ERA

Wainwright 21⁄3 7 6 6 0 5 7.88

J.Kelly 12⁄3 0 0 0 0 2 0.00

Rosenthal 1 0 0 0 0 2 0.00

Mujica 1 1 0 0 1 1 3.00

Boggs 1 0 0 0 0 0 0.00

Motte W, 1-0 2 3 1 1 0 1 3.00

Wash. IP H R ER BB SO ERA

G.Gonzalez 5 5 3 3 4 5 4.50

Stammen 2⁄3 1 0 0 0 0 9.00

S.Burnett 1⁄3 0 0 0 0 0 27.00

E.Jackson 1 1 1 1 2 2 7.50

Clippard 1 1 1 1 0 1 3.00

Storen L, 1-1 1 3 4 4 2 2 9.00

Inherited runners-scored—S.Burnett 1-0. WP—G.Gonzalez. Umpires—Home, Alfonso Marquez First, Ed Hickox Second, Paul Emmel Third, Marvin Hudson Right, Jim Joyce Left, Joe West.

T—2:52. A—47,081 (50,291).