(Photo Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports)

Nationals closer to the World Series

With Stephen Strasburg putting together another postseason gem and a full stadium cheering them on, the Washington Nationals moved closer to clinching their first World Series appearance with an 8-1 victory on Monday night over the St. Louis Cardinals.

This is what people only dared to dream of when baseball returned to Washington, D.C., in 2005. Two previous Washington franchises had left the city, with just one championship (1924) earned and Baltimore Orioles owner Peter Angelos, who wanted no area competition from an incoming franchise, declared D.C. was not a baseball town.

Now the dream nears fruition. Strasburg struck out 12 over seven innings and the only run the Cardinals scored was unearned. In taking a 3-0 lead in this best-of-seven series, the Nats have outscored the Cardinals 13-2.

Howie Kendrick, a 14-year veteran who has never played in a World Series, doubled in a pair of runs in the fourth inning for a 4-0 lead and added another RBI in the fifth for a 5-0 lead. The Nats just dominated from start to finish.

And speaking of finishing … Game 4 is Tuesday night at 8 p.m. ET on TBS. The Nats can see the promised land. Can they get there? Doing it at home would be a special treat.

In the American League, the New York Yankees and Houston Astros, tied at a game apiece, play Tuesday at 4:08 p.m. at Yankee Stadium. FS1 has the coverage.

 
 
Post By: Larry Weisman, a longtime sportswriter for USA TODAY, blogs for Twistity.com. Follow him on Twitter @MrLarryWeisman