The Cardinals' Paul Goldschmidt takes a second strike headed for a fifth inning strikeout against the Washington Nationals during Game 4 of the National League Championship Series at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2019. He fanned three times in the game that Washington won 7-4 to sweep the NLCS. (Robert Cohen, rcohen@post-dispatch.com)
Robert CohenThe season is over. The Nationals' pitching staff is stupendous. But the Cards took two of three from Washington in September, and three of four from them in the late spring. They weren't romps, but the Cards proved to be competent, competitive batters in many of those games.