NL wild card game

The argument for homer-centric lineups in October is simple and, I think, logical:

You're not going to beat the likes of Justin Verlander with a sequential offense. He might allow five baserunners in seven innings; it's asking a lot to get those five baserunners, or even four of them, in the same inning. You are more likely to get the three or four runs you need with one or two longballs.

Josh Hader is in the same category, only as a reliever rather than as a starter. When he fails, it's generally because somebody took him yard.

On Tuesday night, the Washington Nationals beat him with sequential offense, starting with a disputable hit-by-pitch and culminated by a single and outfield error with the bases loaded that plated three runs.

It was an unlikely way for the Brew Crew to go out. But that's baseball, the game that gave the late 1980s star pitcher Joaquin Andujar what he called his "favorite English word: youneverknow."