Erick Fedde played a small but crucial role in the Nationals win last night:

Erick Fedde was sitting on a bench in the bullpen tunnel, talking with other relievers and watching the wild-card game on TV when he realized something. He scanned the lineup card. The Washington Nationals starter, ace Max Scherzer, was due up fourth in the fifth inning. The Nationals trailed the Milwaukee Brewers by two runs and, if anyone reached, this seemed like a moment to pinch-hit for Scherzer.

Fedde stood up. He was a starter for most of this season, but when he first transitioned to the bullpen, veteran relievers alerted him to situations the team might need him in before they happened. That calculus never would have occurred to him as a starter, but he now understood. He thought: “You know who I should tell? The guy who’s going to pitch.”

The young right-hander walked down the tunnel and over to the veteran, sitting and watching in the bullpen. The potential domino effect surprised Strasburg, but it made sense. He got up to stretch.

WashingtonPost.com

Strasburg pitched three shutout innings, striking out four batters, to keep the game close. The Nationals pulled out all the stops last night to win.

The other good move was saving Ryan Zimmerman for the right situation. Twice he went to the on-deck circle, and twice he went back to the bench. When he faced Josh Hader, a left-hander, he didn’t hit the ball hard, or square, but the bloop single to center helped set up the game winning hit.