St. Louis Cardinals starter Adam Wainwright allowed three consecutive extra-base hits to start Game 5 of the NLDS against the Washington Nationals' surprisingly powerful first three batters, with a double to Jayson Werth, a triple to Bryce Harper, and a two-run home run to Ryan Zimmerman. All of them were on pitches that you would expect Werth, Harper, and Zimmerman to double, triple, and homer on. Then he struck out the side, but the Nationals had already taken a 3-0 lead and allowed the elimination crowd at Nationals Park to commence roaring.
Wainwright looked awful against those first three batters, and then he didn't—sometimes it's harder to say much more about an individual inning than that. The Cardinals never got anyone up in the bullpen, but you can be sure that they will if runners precede outs in the second inning.
Gio Gonzalez has been a little wild so far, but nothing compared to his seven-walk command in Game 1 of the series, which the Nationals somehow came back to win. The Cardinals' offense will need to be somewhat more active if they're going to return the favor on Friday. Follow along on SB Nation St. Louis for live updates throughout the game—and, hopefully, on into the celebration.