Nationals vs. Giants, 2014 NLDS Game 3 final score: Washington staves off elimination with 4-1 win

In the first two games of the Division Series between the Washington Nationals and San Francisco Giants, it was the Giants coming up with the big hit or big pitch when needed. The tables turned on Monday in San Francisco, with the Nationals picking up a win on the road thanks to a three-run outburst in the seventh inning. Those runs proved to be enough as Washington won 4-1 behind a strong start from Doug Fister.

The game played out similarly to the first two of the series. Both starters produced zero after zero in the early going. Fister pitched seven strong innings for the Nationals, allowing just four hits. Madison Bumgarner wasn't quite as sharp as he was in the Wild Card play-in game, but he matched Fister for the first six frames.

Things turned in Washington's favor in the top of the seventh. Ian Desmond opened the inning with a single and Bryce Harper followed that up with a walk to put two runners on with no outs. Wilson Ramos attempted to sacrifice the runners over, but Bumgarner tried to get the lead runner at third. The ball got away from Pablo Sandoval and wound up in the bullpen down the left field line, allowing Desmond and Harper to score on the throwing error. Asdrubal Cabrera followed with an RBI single to score Ramos and put the Nats up 3-0. The three runs matched Washington's total during the first two games combined. The score remained the same until Bryce Harper launched a deep home run to right field to lead off the ninth inning and give the Nationals another insurance run.

Washington went to the ninth with a lead in Game 2 on Saturday and were even within one out of winning that contest. San Francisco rallied with its back against the wall to tie the score, and eventually won in 18 innings. Appropriately, the Giants didn't go down without another late rally on Monday. Drew Storen came on to close out the game, just like he did in Game 1. Sandoval reached on a flared single to right before Hunter Pence doubled to put runners at second and third. Storen rebounded to strike out Brandon Belt. Brandon Crawford got the Giants on the board with a sacrifice fly, but Storen retired Travis Ishikawa to end the game.

The win keeps Washington alive for at least one more day. The two teams will play Game 4 on Tuesday, with Gio Gonzalez expected to start for Washington and Ryan Vogelsong scheduled to take the mound for San Francisco.