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WASHINGTON — Hitting a home run to extend your team’s season: So easy, a caveman can do it.
The Nationals’ Jayson Werth, with his shaggy hair and beard, at least made it look easy in yesterday’s ninth inning — once he got through the first 12 pitches from Cardinals right-hander Lance Lynn.
“That’s the way the game should have ended,” Nationals manager Davey Johnson said after Werth’s walk-off home run sank the Cardinals 2-1 in Game 4 of the NLDS before a frenzied crowd of 44,392 in the shadow of the Capitol. “It was unbelievable. Great effort on his part.”
The decisive fifth game of the series is tonight, with the Cardinals’ Adam Wainwright facing Gio Gonzalez to determine who will oppose the Giants in the NLCS beginning on Sunday.
This one was a classic, with terrific pitching and drama running high until Lynn folded on his 13th pitch to Werth, a fastball that disappeared into the night.
“Ball’s in our court,” said Werth, whose Nationals were destroyed 8-0 in Game 3 and have been outscored 23-9 in the series. “We’ve got a chance to win the series [tonight]. What a difference a day makesI know we are going to come in ready.”
The homer was a defining moment for Werth after signing a seven-year deal worth $126 million with the Nationals in December 2010, but missed significant action this season with a broken left wrist.
“I’m just happy the fans got to see this,” Nationals third baseman Ryan Zimmerman said. “I don’t think the fans realize how good a player Jayson is.”
The Nationals received dominant relief from Jordan Zimmermann, Tyler Clippard and Drew Storen, who combined to strike out eight batters in three shutout innings behind starter Ross Detwiler.
Kyle Lohse was brilliant for the Cardinals, needing only 87 pitches to get through seven innings before Mitchell Boggs pitched a scoreless eighth.
“It’s a tough one, but [we’re] still alive to play another game,” Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said.
The lefty Detwiler gave the Nationals their best pitching performance of the series, allowing one unearned run on three hits with three walks and two strikeouts. Detwiler’s gem came after flops by Zimmermann and Edwin Jackson in succession. Gonzalez struggled in Game 1, but survived five innings and kept the Nationals in the game.
Detwiler’s final act, on pitch No. 104, was retiring Daniel Descalso to end the sixth inning. The Nationals appeared to escape the inning on Yadier Molina’s double-play grounder, except that second base umpire Ed Hickox ruled Danny Espinosa left the bag to receive the relay from Zimmerman. After David Freese was intentionally walked to put runners on first and second, Detwiler got Descalso to ground out.
“[Detwiler] was just totally under control against a good hitting ballclub,” Johnson said. “Fun watching.”
The Cardinals tied the game at 1-1 in the third on Carlos Beltran’s sacrifice fly, following an Ian Desmond fielding error that allowed Pete Kozma to reach third with one out. It was the fourth RBI of the series for Beltran, giving him 23 in 27 career postseason games.
Adam LaRoche’s homer leading off the second gave the Nationals an early lead, but Lohse then got rolling, retiring 16 of the next 17 batters he faced.
“It was nice to see kind of a pitcher’s duel instead of them slug-feasting us,” Johnson said. “I knew that if we could kind of keep it in that situation, I’ve got guys in the lineup that can do some damage.”