Cardinals creep ever closer, cut Nats’ lead to 6-5

Oh, man.

Gio Gonzalez turning in to Classical Era Jonathan Sanchez isn’t that surprising -- his control has always been spotty, and the real surprise was that he overcame that for much of the regular season. Gonzalez gave up three runs. It happens.

But then the Nationals’ bullpen got weird. Game 7s are “all hands on deck” games. Anyone can play anywhere! Edwin Jackson might look like an inconsistent starter to you, but that’s because you lack imagination. He could also be an inconsistent reliever if you’ll let him! Jackson came in as a reliever and gave up a run.

He got out of a jam, and that’s where the weirdness was supposed to end. Tyler Clippard is usually a dynamo in the late innings. But the first batter he faced in Game 5, Daniel Descalso, pounded one down the right-field line:

That made it 6-5, Nationals. The Cardinals have scored a run in four out of the last five innings, which gives it a feel of one of those games. Drew Storen, who pitched all of 30 innings in the regular season, is up next. As Shakespeare wrote in Jurassic Park: Hold on to your butts.